The only co-ed overnight drop-in centre in Hamilton, Ont., is expected to be busier than it has been in recent months amid a cold weather alert issued by the city’s medical officer, effective Tuesday.
Staff at the Hub on Vine Street say more than 100 people have dropped in each night over the past three nights with temperatures dropping close to -15 C, the current threshold for activating community agencies to aid vulnerable populations.
However, executive director Jennifer Bonner says the facility only has capacity for 25, which means users have to be cycled in and out approximately every hour.
“We don’t have beds, there’s no sleeping quarters and you cannot be accessing shelter to use that space.” Bonner told Global News.
“It is really for those who are definitely sleeping on the streets to have a chance to come in and get warm and get fed.”
Bonner says they’re seeing four times as many men as women — and those men need more support.
“Overflow beds, access to shelter, even access to showers. Men have nowhere to go, take showers,” she said.
“The city could be looking at the rec centres and providing an opportunity for them to go and take a shower during the day when they are open.”
An additional aggravation is out-of-towners, particularly from Brantford, making their way to Hamilton to use the system.
Since council approved additional funding supports in January, the city’s housing services still hope to find partners with properties to further overnight drop-ins.
“Much like how we’re funding the hub, the other agencies could provide that service as well, and we’d be open to hearing from people for sure on that,” housing director Michelle Baird said.
“Nothing right now specifically on the men’s system, but also overall looking at the whole system and where the gaps are.”
The city’s only other overnight drop-in is the YWCA’s Carol Anne’s Place on MacNab but only for women and non-binary individuals.
All other outlets, the Regional Indian Centre on King, Willow’s Place on Wentworth, Wesley Day Centre on Catharine and Living Rock Youth Resources on Wilson Street offer daytime drop-ins only.
Housing services has a proposal out to city councillors seeking a general program to serve the estimated 875 people per quarter that use existing drop-in programs.
Baird told councillors the cost per quarter to operate the centres is an estimated $748,000 or $3 million per year.
An in-depth analysis of the city’s needs to accommodate homelessness is expected in August.
It’s expected the study will suggest a permanent drop-in model and formal review of a long-term service plan along with its funding implications.
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