THUNDER BAY – Emergency warming options offered for the first time in Thunder Bay last year will be expanded this winter, thanks to the work of several local organizations.
A warming centre that opened on the city’s south side will be joined by a second in the north end, while the “care bus” will also ride again.
The bus was initiated by the City of Thunder Bay in partnership with agencies including NorWest Community Health Centres last March.
The move came in response to calls from activist group Not One More Death, which shared reports of multiple deaths on the city’s streets over the winter.
NorWest CEO Juanita Lawson called last year’s program a success, saying it was used over 3,600 times within the six weeks it was offered.
The bus travelled between the north and south ends and was staffed with outreach workers who offered warm clothes as well as connections to services including the warming centre, shelter and food, and medical support.
The need for the program isn’t going anywhere, Lawson said.
“Last year we were really in a very difficult situation with housing and lack of access to warming shelters. We know that will still be the case this year – we’re still experiencing a pandemic and an overdose crisis, lack of sustainable housing.”
The expansion of emergency supports is good news, but she cautioned they’ll only go so far while major gaps remain in access to housing, detox, and other needs.
“Our community partners are really aware we can’t put in all of these incremental, one-time supports when we really have to look at some of the systemic issues that are happening around housing and lack of access to resources for so many individuals,” she said.
The care bus will launch later this year and operate eight hours per day through the end of March 2022. An exact start date and route are still being determined.
Meanwhile, a warming centre operated on the south side by mental health and addictions non-profit People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment (PACE) will also continue.
Staffing is in place to start the service on Dec. 1, about a month earlier than last year, said executive director Georgina McKinnon.
Hundreds of people a day came through the doors of the warming centre, she said, which offers visitors food, warm clothing, and access to computers and a telephone, among other resources.
McKinnon said it’s a badly-needed service that was highly valued by those who used it. Especially during the pandemic, she said people sometimes have nowhere else to turn to get out of the cold.
“I think there should be warming centres in every major city, if not small towns,” she said. “The numbers we had last year shows it [is really needed].”
The large majority of users, though not all, are homeless or precariously housed, she said.
A second warming centre will be operated by a social agency in the north core, said city councillor Aldo Ruberto at a public meeting Thursday.
It’s welcome news, said McKinnon.
“The north end needs their own,” she said. “We had a hard time keeping up last year, to be honest, because everybody was coming from all corners of the city.”
PACE will happily accept donations of items like winter clothes and bus tickets to support the program, she noted.
Both the care bus and PACE warming centre will operate thanks to funding from the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, and federal Reaching Home dollars secured through the Lakehead Social Planning Council.
That will replace funding provided last year by the City of Thunder Bay and Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board. The care bus also won’t be using a city transit vehicle, with NorWest working on arrangements to procure a bus elsewhere.
Note: This article has been updated to include the Thunder Bay DSSAB as a funder of last year's care bus initiative.
