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
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months
Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea level
On a tiny island off Panama's Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground.
Trump election victory 'very unlikely,' but 'possible': former FBI director Comey
Former FBI director James Comey says while he believes former U.S. president Donald Trump "will be defeated" in the upcoming presidential election, he doesn’t think it’s a given.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
'It feels like freedom': Why some Albertans like going nude in nature
Few people can say they accidentally purchased a nude beach — but Shelley can. When she saw a piece of land she could fondly remember camping on was up for sale, she inquired about it and ended up purchasing it. She soon found that there were already inhabitants on it.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
WestJet ordered to pay B.C. traveller $1,300 for a missed flight connection
A B.C. traveller will receive more than $1,300 in compensation from WestJet for a missed flight connection following a decision from the province's small claims tribunal.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: 'I am completely heartsick and devastated'
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
2 children among 5 people hospitalized after head-on crash on Hwy. 417 in Ottawa's west end
Two young children and three adults were seriously injured in a major collision on Highway 417 between Palladium Drive and Carp Road in Ottawa's west end Friday afternoon.