Timmins shelter expands with Indigenous services
New shelter beds at Living Space are not only going to help get more people off the streets but, as the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) puts it, will help clients access services.
The ONWA invested over $13,000 to expand the shelter, of which five will be exclusive to its clients.
The manager of its Timmins branch, Virginia Sutherland, said at the grand opening Wednesday morning that the decision came about when noticing the trouble people have had finding the supports they need in the city. Many closed their offices to in-person visits during the pandemic, she said.
“They walk all over Timmins, in terms of going door-to-door to try and find those services,” Sutherland said.
“We’re coming here, at Living Space, to meet our community members here, so they can access our services.”
The expansion also includes dedicated space for ONWA to perform case management and provide culturally-based programming to clients.
With a majority of the shelter’s clients being Indigenous, First Nations officials in attendance said the move to bring more supports where people are seeking shelter is a critical step towards improving housing insecurity supports for its urban members.
“We need to have these wraparound services, to provide these safe spaces for people to access services,” said Deputy Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Anna Betty Achneepineskum.
The Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, Alison Linklater, told guests that several factors can lead people to become homeless.
For Indigenous communities, she said, lack of housing is a large issue, as is the growing affordability crisis. Addictions and mental health challenges are also major concerns, she said, but that it shouldn’t be assumed that they apply to everyone who is homeless.
Linklater said Mushkegowuk Council is creating a social development department, which will allow it to help better collaborate with groups like the ONWA on these issues.
“We’re hoping, with this space that’s provided by ONWA—we’re so greatly appreciative for that—that we’ll continue with more supports,” said Linklater.
Living Space’s executive director, Kate Durst, said the expansion will certainly help get more people into shelter, as well as make more people aware of the in-house services it provides to help get clients on their feet. Things like harm-reduction, mental health and social service supports.
Durst called the ONWA’s funding of the expansion and its partnership with the shelter unique and that it bodes well for future work in the city.
“It’s really showing how the partnerships that are starting to form, in the City of Timmins, are taking those big steps faster,” Durst said..
Sutherland told the dozens of guests at the grand opening that the goal is to end homelessness in the city. Municipalities have been pledging to meet that goal by 2025.
But she said that can only happen when local agencies work together, with its move being just one step.
“These people that are here are people,” Sutherland said.
“If we can come all together to provide that support, I think we can go a long way.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
LIVE SOON Honda expected to announce Ontario EV battery plant, part of a $15B investment
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Honda executives are expected to announce today that the Japanese automaker is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., part of a $15-billion investment.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'