Gathering Place approved for 10 cots as temporary measure for Warming Centre

The Gathering Place has received city approval to allow the Warming Centre to set up 10 cots at the soup kitchen’s Cassells Street location this winter season.

The organization has expanded its services to provide “ongoing support and amalgamation of the Warming Centre to being one of its outreach projects.”

Executive director Dennis Chippa has been waiting for the go-ahead for the past few weeks.

The Warming Centre had been looking for a new location and was running out of options. 

See:The Gathering Place is the new Warming Centre but cots may not be permitted

“We have had some really good success with the city. So far, we have found that within our plans, we can put 10 cots in if we need to, as soon as possible,” explained Chippa.

The 10 cots are permitted under the building code, however anything greater will require making some minor adjustments.

“There is a review required of the fire alarm system in order to move beyond 10 beds. So, we’re expecting some information from The Gathering Place and the Warming Centre to help facilitate that moving forward,” said Beverley Hillier manager of Planning and Building Services.

The review is to ensure the space is properly protected from a safety perspective and to ensure there is enough floor space available to accommodate the number of cots proposed.

“So that review is ongoing and we are looking forward to getting that information,” said Hillier.

Ultimately the Warming Centre would like occupancy for 15 sleepers this winter.

“We have to make some changes around our fire alarm system. They are very minor changes and we are confident we will have them ready for the first week of December,” said Chippa.

At its former location at the Triple Links Centre on Fisher Street, the Warming Centre provided a warm and safe place for between 8 and 10 homeless people running at or over capacity virtually every night.

Currently there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes.

“Our next step is working on the training of volunteers, and we’re doing some recruitment. And we have to make some changes to our policies and procedures,” said Chippa.

“We are now in the position where we can start working towards the first week of December. We want to train our volunteers in the next couple of weeks to get some of them ready so that should we have to open like we did last November when we opened for a couple of nights, we would be able to open on an emergency basis with 10 cots.”

Chippa said it is a huge relief knowing there is a place for some of the city’s homeless to stay.

“We still have some things to do but it is a good news story. We’ve got the positives. We’re moving forward. We will be open on the first of December.”

Once the doors open in December, The Gathering Place will be open every night for the Warming Centre until sometime in March.

“Last year we did seven nights a week, and once we hit March, it became temperature based, same as in November. The temperature in November would need to hit -20," said Chippa.

“We are still hopeful that a long-term solution can be found."