Sudbury's Off the Street Shelter reaching capacity each night since August

Sudbury is about to head into the coldest months of the winter – when more individuals will be accessing shelter services.

At least one shelter in the city has been at capacity since the summer.

The Off The Street Emergency Shelter on Larch Street in downtown Sudbury, is an emergency overnight shelter that offers 35 cots for individuals needing accommodations. It operates between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. all year long.

Shelter Co-ordinator, Julie Bohemier said the shelter has been at capacity each night since August.

“We’ve seen a lot of evictions over the past year: legal, illegal evictions, and overall just unaffordability for housing,” she said.

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When capacity is reached, Bohemier said they check with other shelters and partner services on behalf of those still needing accommodations for the night.

Two months ago Off the Street moved from a ‘first come first served’ basis to a sign-up list each morning for the following night.

“It’s been helping to streamline the intake process,” Bohemier said, adding that if people end up on the wait list they have the rest of the day to reach out the friends or family to find other accommodations for the night.

The Off the Street shelter is operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury-Manitoulin. It is just one of several partners helping the city’s homeless population.

“The decisions and the funding come from the City of Greater Sudbury, but again we work very closely with them, as well as our other partners,” said chief executive officer Patty MacDonald.

“We’re working towards what those gaps are and what the community need is and how we can house them.”

MacDonald said that lately, most shelters in the city have been reaching capacity.

“That’s always a concern; we don’t want to see people on the street,” she said.

“We want to see them either housed or accessing services that they need at the time that they need it.”

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On winter nights when temperatures reach below -15°C or there is a storm, the city and the Homelessness Network issue cold weather alerts. Those open up more warming spaces for vulnerable individuals to go overnight.