THUNDER BAY — The demand for accommodation for homeless people in Thunder Bay is expected to grow this winter.
It's why the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board approved $183,000 in additional funding to support 40 new beds in various facilities around the city, bringing total funding of shelters this year to about $2 million.
It raises the number of DSSAB-supported shelter spaces to 188.
The board is the service system manager for provincially-funded homelessness programs in the district.
"We looked at the usage trends, and we saw that this winter was going to be a little more challenging than we've seen in the past," DSSAB CEO Ken Ranta stated Wednesday. "So we reached out to our partners, to our shelter operators, to see what capacity there might be for increased space."
Scotland Morrison of Urban Abbey welcomed the decision that followed that consultation, saying it will enable his organization to double the number of beds it currently operates.
Besides the existing 20-bed women's shelter at its Red River Road location, it will open 20 all-gender beds in a south-side facility, at Victoria Avenue and Simpson Street.
Morrison said a facility is badly needed in that area.
"Absolutely, because even currently – before the snow is falling – Shelter House and Grace Place, on a nightly basis, are referring women to our women's shelter because they are full. So this functions as another layer of overflow protection, so that nobody has to experience homelessness in the cold."
He explained that Urban Abbey works closely with Shelter House, Grace Place, the Salvation Army, the Elizabeth Fry Society and police, as well as the hospital as they discharge people.
"Essentially, we have created a bit of a system that has some flexibility and a higher capacity, that's trying to meet the needs of the increasing homeless population that Thunder Bay is experiencing at the moment."
DSSAB is also funding 10 new beds at Shelter House for a total of 72, and ten more beds at Grace Place for a total of 35.
These are in addition to the 41 beds it supports at the Salvation Army.
At Shelter House, executive director Brendan Carlin said the new beds being added across the city are needed urgently because "we're looking at a scary winter...We've been full every night the last couple of months at least, which is normal for this time of year when the weather changes and tents are no longer an option."
He added, though, that he believes people are moving from tents to shelter facilities earlier than in previous years.
Melody Macsemchuk, operations manager at Grace Place, said the new funding for its shelter is good news because because its client volume has grown.
"We just started the Out of the Cold program for the season in October. This extra money will allow us to add staff...It has been very busy. We have been full at 26, 27 [clients]. The other day we had 31."
The social services board has also released details of other funding under its winter 2024 homelessness prevention programs.
Elevate NWO will receive $348,000 for its warming centre and outreach activities, and PACE is getting $179,000 to operate its warming centre.
Ranta noted "The crisis that we're seeing in homelessness right across the country isn't an easy one to address. Thunder Bay being where it is, and what it is to our region, it's a migration point for people looking for services, supports, education, medical and many other things."
He forecast the city will see ongoing growth in the demand for supports, adding "so we want to be there to match it. If we didn't have them, we would have a likely larger problem on our hands, something that we wouldn't want to look at."
