With snow on the ground and some chilly temperatures ahead this week, the homeless shelter in Timmins needed a place for the 14 residents displaced by a fire last month.
They had a second location and were getting it ready as a women's homeless shelter, but those plans have now changed.
More than two weeks after a fire destroyed their original building, management of the Good Samaritan Inn Homeless Shelter finally welcomed residents into their new space nearby.
"The guys came in on Saturday afternoon. Since that time, they are trying to settle in. Right now, we are doing everything that we can to just keep them comfortable.” said Agnes Okonmah, of Good Samaritan Inn.
The new shelter was going to be to house women and children, before the fire derailed those plans.
“Later on we'll think of maybe getting something else for the ladies, but right now we're concentrating on the residents that were at 137 Golden.” said Okonmah.
The few residents who have moved back in are being housed in the common area temporarily while separate rooms are being fixed.
Until they are, they won't be able to bring in the few women who were also displaced by the blaze.
“I had only a sweater and pants on and my shoes, my steel toes. And we all went to the garage and then we saw half of the house was already burning down. All the smoke was really black, it was hard for us to see anything.” said Samantha Dalton, a shelter resident.
Dalton is staying with friends until she's able to move back in with the people she calls family.
“The Good Samaritan Inn helped me by giving me a place to stay. They're like my family. This is a new beginning for all of us, it's a big start for everybody. This place is going to be amazing when it's done.” said Dalton.
Meanwhile, donations and support from the community continueto roll in through fundraising events and fundraising pages online.
