Falls shelter ready for men, women in need
Operates for next six months out of St. Andrew’s church on Morrison Street
A six-month commitment to keep needy men and women warm overnight begins at 7 tonight.
Volunteers are still needed to help out at the shelter at St. Andrew’s United Church on Morrison Street. Fifteen cots are available for anyone who needs a warm place to sleep, at no cost.
Organizers are looking for “people that care about making a difference in the community,” said Project Share executive director Diane Corkum.
That includes those who want to make the overnight guests feel welcome by chatting or playing cards, or who are able to arrive around 9 a.m. to do sweeping and light cleanup work after the clients have left.
The shelter itself will be open nightly until March 31 from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m.
Anyone interested in volunteering should phone Project Share at 905-357-5121.
The shelter was originally intended to be for men only, but that changed during planning because the existing women’s shelters in Niagara Falls are often full at night.
“We’re primarily a men’s shelter but we will accept women, we don’t want women to be in need,” said Corkum.
She said, “we’re short on resources so we don’t want to turn anyone away.”
Having a single overnight centre available is expected to make it easier on the clients who will stay there.
Last year, volunteers organized nightly shelters that rotated between various churches in the city from New Year’s Eve through to the end of March.
“We came in complete. All of the people, all of the donations,” said Rachel Berger, one of the organizers last year. “The church people didn’t have to do anything.”
Helped by about 20 volunteers, she said she arranged the churches, Michael Sproule scheduled volunteers, city councillors Carolynn Ioannoni and Kim Craitor collected donations and A.J. Heafey, a community outreach worker at the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre, checked in regularly on the clients.
St. Andrew’s, River of Life and Glengate Alliance churches and the Salvation Army all provided space for a few weeks at a time.
For the shelter that starts Thursday night at St. Andrew’s, Niagara Transit is providing free rides to and from the church for people staying the night, and clients can shower at the Gale Centre.
Also, lunch and supper is available daily at the Soup Kitchen on St. Lawrence Avenue, and during the day people can keep warm inside any of the city libraries.