Out of the Cold demand short of expectations
Homeless shelters had expected to hit maximum ‘pretty darn fast’
Start Me Up Niagara’s executive director Sue Venditti expected she’d be far busier when the Out of the Cold program opened its doors Nov. 1.
Considering the number of homeless camps that were set up throughout Niagara during the summer months, she said it seemed the program run in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls would soon be at capacity with people looking for a warm place to spend the night once the cold weather arrived.
“I thought we’d be a maximum pretty darn fast.”
It didn’t happen.
She said the organization is seeing 25 to 35 individuals each night at the overnight shelter at Westminster United Church, in St. Catharines, “which is a significant drop from other years.”
“I thought we’d be right up at our 45-bed max immediately, but it has not worked out that way and I’m really grateful for that. We’ve had about 130 different individuals who have stayed with us.”
Meanwhile, Venditti said Start Me Up Niagara took over running the Out of the Cold program in Niagara Falls this year, where the shelter is at about capacity.
Although capacity at the overnight shelter at Westminster United Church was cut to 45 beds — down from 50 last year — to ensure social distancing requirements were met, she said the Out of the Cold shelter in Niagara Falls was expanded to 30, for a total net increase of five over last year.
While surprised by the reduced stays at the St. Catharines facility, Venditti said she was also surprised by how quickly the Niagara Falls shelter filled up.
“I’ve never done an out of the Cold in Niagara Falls before. I wasn’t expecting the uptake quite as quickly,” she said. “It’s a well-run program. It’s the third year it has been run at St. Andrew’s Church, but it’s the first year Start Me Up Niagara has co-ordinated it.”
Venditti attributed the unexpected shelter use to additional services added by the Niagara Region this year, focused on getting people into housing as quickly as possible.
The Region, for instance, recently reported it has added 90 new additional shelter beds this winter regionwide, while a new pilot project was been launched to assist chronically homeless people has already shown some success.
As a result, Venditti said the number of people staying with Out of the Cold is “low and I hope we stay there because it makes it a much more comfortable stay and with COVID-19, it’s probably safer.”
While public health department inspections help ensure the organization is meeting requirements to keep people safe, she said having even fewer people there for overnight stays further enhances their safety.
“It’s still a lot better when our numbers are at this level,” she said, adding they could easily accommodate more if needed.
Meanwhile, Venditti said people using the shelters are “quite co-operative,” with few exceptions.
“We had one person who refused to be screened, but it’s not an option. If you can’t participate in the screening, you’re not going to be coming in until you change your mind on that,” she said.
“The co-operation has been pretty amazing, actually.”
Clients, Venditti added, are “as worn out as the rest of us.”
“They’re very concerned and that’s why I think we have so much co-operation with the hand washing, the masking and the screening,” she said.
“They face the same fears as everyone and at the same time their access to services had been drastically reduced. They’re a traumatized group right now.”