THUNDER BAY — A local organization that helps people experiencing homelessness is much busier these days, as the cold weather that’s hit the region lately is forcing more individuals to seek shelter from the elements.
People Advocating for Change through Empowerment, or PACE, is seeing upwards of 150 people per day coming into their Victoria Avenue location, says Georgina McKinnon, the not-for-profit’s executive director. Those clients, she says, routinely come in multiple times per day—some making as many as three to four visits.
“With the drop in temperatures, it's increased significantly,” she says of current usage.
Timothy Legarde is one of the people who visits the centre. On Monday afternoon, he stopped in—one of dozens there at the time—not only to warm up, but also for a cup of tea and a light lunchtime meal. Legarde says he’s been coming by PACE for about two years now, and calls it “a good place.”
“They’re taking (in) all the people,” he says, adding that it’s helping those out who need it. “(It’s) just really good.” It’s also nice, he says, having a place to come by, watch television, and where “people just kick it.”
McKinnon says that prior to the current cold snap, which has seen temperatures drop into the minus-20s with windchills colder than that, the centre was seeing between 100 to 120 people, again many of whom were coming in multiple times.
This winter centre is open for increased hours. The Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board allocated more funding to PACE, which was finalized late last year. McKinnon says that’s allowed them to keep their doors open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week, and from 9 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. on weekends, depending on the weather.
Aside from being a drop-in centre for clients to use when they need it, McKinnon says they also offer a variety of services, including training and education sessions, mental health and mindfulness supports, and weekly Indigenous programming. They also have an advocacy coordinator who sets people up with other organizations who may be of help.
Right now, especially with the city in the throes of winter, organizations like PACE are fulfilling an essential need in keeping vulnerable people safe, McKinnon says. “(It gives) them a home away from home that they don’t have,” she says. “Our clients actually dubbed PACE the home for the homeless.”
