With extreme cold ahead, Sudbury groups provide support for the vulnerable
The bitter winter wind is expected to feel much colder, leading to an extreme cold alert being issued for Sudbury.
When temperatures dip down to -15 or -20 with the wind chill, the Greater Sudbury works with the Homelessness Network and their six agencies to offer additional support for those who don’t have a place to get warm.
“It’s obviously going to be the coldest night of the year so far this winter,” said Raymond Landry, Homelessness Network coordinator.
“Our outreach van will be out there for sure. The warming station at the Samaritan Centre will be open for sure. We will encourage our team to fill every available bed of the shelter, for women and for men.”
The Homelessness Network said outreach workers will be driving in their van to communicate and help the city’s most vulnerable to give them what they need to stay warm or give them a ride to a warming centre.
Since the pandemic began, the need for services has increased and continues with the high cost of living.
“People with the economy have grown poorer, so they have less access to resources, there’s more food bank use, more food being used at the Samaritan centre, more need for the services and more use,” Landry said.
A city spokesperson said since last year, it’s been able to take steps to address the growing need and there are beds available for those who need them.
“We implemented an additional shelter program last year as a response to our encampment strategy so we could make sure we had available shelter beds when people wanted them,” Gail Spencer of the City of Greater Sudbury said.
“So far we’ve been doing really well, where we’ve had available shelter beds when people wanted them.”
The Homelessness Network said there are a number of online resources and a few hotline numbers people can call if they don’t have a place to stay.
With extreme cold like this, the message is to ask for help, if you need it.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.