NORTH BAY -- North Bay's 24/7 emergency shelter moves its location again

The beds at the current emergency shelter in North Bay are situated at the YMCA. They’ll soon be moved to the Pete Palangio twin-pad arena on Wallace Road.

It's the third time the emergency shelter is being relocated.

 "We didn't have a place to have COVID-19 positive individuals isolated at the YMCA," said Nipissing Mental Health Housing and Support Services Executive Director Mary Davis.

Davis says the move is strictly based on protecting the most vulnerable.

 "This is a necessity, and I think everyone involved realizes that we must protect individuals."

 The new facility will operate 24 hours every day, and will be split in two sections. One pad will hold 50 cots, and the other will hold 10 cots for those who've tested positive and need to be isolated.

Davis says showers and bathrooms are also accessible.

 The new location is almost an hour's walk from The Gathering Place soup kitchen, where many of the city's homeless have their meals. But Davis says there is also a plan for that issue.

"We're hoping to have everything facilitated out of this location. We will have meals delivered from the gathering place up here."

City transit rides are also free, and there is a direct route from the downtown core to the arena.

"It's on a bus route directly. At this particular point, transit doesn't charge for transportation, so it does work for that stand point," said District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board Chair Mark King.

King says it costs about $170,000 a month to run the arena as an emergency shelter. He's worried that without federal funding assistance, money could run out quickly.

 "We have enough to last about two months," said King.

 "We'll have to look at that situation when it comes to that particular point, if in fact we're still struggling with this COVID-19."

 Officials involved in setting up the shelter say right now, no one who uses the shelter has  the Coronavirus and precautions are being taken to keep the homeless and staff safe.