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City's overnight emergency shelter to open Monday

In a release late Friday afternoon, Greater Sudbury announced that after weeks of delay, the Out of the Cold Program will begin operating Monday night. The overnight shelter provides homeless people with a place to sleep during winter months.
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An agreement between the Elgin Street Mission and Greater Sudbury means the city's homeless will have a an overnight shelter beginning tonight. In a release, the city said the Mission agreed to extend its hours temporarily until a facility on Larch Street is ready. File photo.
In a release late Friday afternoon, Greater Sudbury announced that after weeks of delay, the Out of the Cold Program will begin operating Monday night.

The overnight shelter provides homeless people with a place to sleep during winter months. It had operated for several years at the Elgin Street Mission, but last year it shortened its operating hours.

The city ran a temporary shelter last February and March with the Salvation Army, and tendered a contract in the spring looking for a long-term provider. But after a bid was found not to meet requirements, the city was still looking for a solution in the fall as the weather was turning cold. It ended up agreeing to partner with the Salvation Army, which agreed to run the shelter, but didn't have a building. The city agreed to offer the use of the former Larch Street police station, but renovations took longer than anticipated.

That led to pressure by the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty, which held protests at city council and outside Tom Davies Square in an attempt to get the shelter open immediately.
In response, the city reached an agreement to extend the hours at the Mission so homeless people would have somewhere to go until the shelter was open.

In its release Friday, the city said the Red Cross will operate the Out of the Cold shelter for the first few nights.

“The Salvation Army will assume staffing responsibility for the Out of the Cold Program starting on Thursday, Dec. 4, however, in the interim the Red Cross will be providing the staffing.”

The shelter will offer homeless people with “cots and a warm, safe place to sleep for homeless and vulnerable individuals during the winter months,” the release said.

“The Out of the Cold program will offer services to persons who are under the influence or otherwise disconnected from mainstream shelter services, however, alcohol and drugs are not permitted on the premises.”

The Mission will maintain its extended hours -- 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. -- until the Out of the Cold Program officially opens its doors.

“The Mission is happy to continue to provide support until the Out of the Cold Shelter is up and running,” Pastor Rene Souliere, of the Elgin Street Mission, said in the release.

The Out of the Cold Emergency shelter program is in addition to the existing 69 emergency shelter beds the city funds for men, women and children and youth. The need to increase the options for emergency shelters was identified in Greater Sudbury’s 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan.

“I am very pleased that through partnerships with the Salvation Army, Red Cross and the Elgin Street Mission, we are able to offer this service to our most vulnerable population,” Catherine Matheson, the city's General Manager of community development, said in the release.

The Out of the Cold Program will operate from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days per week until the end of March.

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