North Bay area looking for new location, new operator for winter warming centre
What was supposed to be a daytime safe haven to get out of the cold, turned into a security headache.
579 Fraser Street, the site of North Bay's winter warming centre for the 2023-2024 winter season. April 26, 2024. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)
The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNASSAB) acknowledges the 579 Fraser Street Warming Centre location didn’t work out as it hoped.
“It's the lived experience that I have with trying to address the business community about the problems they faced,” board chair and city councillor Mark King said.
The Warming Centre needed retrofitting before it was completely ready. A bathroom was added. Originally open from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. and equipped to hold between 40 and 50 people and King said the facility would see up to 100 each night trying to stay warm.
Michael Andy was one of them.
“They did their best to help accommodate our needs,” he said.
“We had breakfast every morning. Staff provided us a warm place.”
A few people gathered outside the former site of North Bay's winter warming centre on Fraser Street on April 26, 2024. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)
The problem, King told CTV News, was he received numerous phone calls from the neighbourhood and nearby businesses about alleged drug dealing taking place in front of the shelter and he received calls regarding the number of transient people congregating in the area.
“I always like to learn from experience,” he said.
“The idea is not to repeat that experience, right? Learn from it and we should have learned.”
DNSSAB plans to move on meaning the board needs to find a new location by the fall.
That’s not the only thing, the Gathering Place staff, who have been overseeing the warming centre’s operations for the past two winters, won’t be running the shelter next season. Officials with the local soup kitchen told CTV News in a phone interview Friday that it chose not to renew the contract and will instead focus on its food programs.
“They found it extremely hard to operate,” said King.
“That's what happens with these situations. They're not easy to operate.”
This leaves the future of the Warming Centre up in the air. During the last board meeting, a few names of organizations were mentioned as potential candidates with the knowledge and expertise that could take over the shelter, the North Bay Regional Health Centre or the Canadian Mental Health Association.
A photo of North Bay city councillor Mark King. (Supplied/City of North Bay)
King said he hopes the Crisis Centre North Bay will pick up the pieces in some way shape or form.
“I suspect the crisis center is probably best equipped to try and understand how to make it work,” he said.
“I hope they are involved in it.”
Andy said he knows firsthand that without a daytime shelter during the frigid winters, people living on the streets will suffer.
“When it was really cold, it was really nice to have a place to go and sit down with no other place for us to go,” he said.
The board will have to go through a public tender process to find the shelter’s new operator.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Iran's president and foreign minister die in helicopter crash at moment of high tensions in Mideast
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country's foreign minister were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in fog, leaving the Islamic Republic without two key leaders as extraordinary tensions grip the wider Middle East.
Woman in her 30s in critical condition after her truck collided with a Via Rail train near Montreal
A woman in her 30s is in critical condition after the pick-up truck she was driving was struck by a Via Rail passenger train Monday morning in Quebec's Monteregie region.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
Britain slammed in inquiry for infecting thousands with tainted blood and covering up the scandal
British authorities and the country's public health service knowingly exposed tens of thousands of patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and blood products, and hid the truth about the disaster for decades, an inquiry into the U.K.'s infected blood scandal found Monday.
The world's best airline is paying staff a bonus of 8 months' salary
Singapore Airlines will reward its employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of salary, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.
What we know so far about the helicopter crash that killed Iran's president
The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iran's president and foreign minister on Sunday sent shock waves around the region.
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken during their seven-month war.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
Five weeks stand between MPs and the BBQ circuit, here's what the Liberals want to pass first
When MPs file back in to the House of Commons on Tuesday, it will be for the final five-week parliamentary push before hitting the barbecue circuit. Looking ahead to what could be a raucous rush to the summer hiatus, CTVNews.ca spoke with top House representatives to get a sense of what's atop their priority list.