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Originally published on May 1, 2023.
It appears the Chippewa St. low-barrier shelter future is in question.
Officials who oversee the homeless facility which is located across the street from Chippewa Secondary School have stated publicly they are looking to shut its doors.
Mark King, chair of the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) stated it at a transitional housing funding announcement in April.
"The plan is quite frankly to close the low-barrier shelter," said King.
King says the new transitional housing funding will help take the pressure off of the need for a low-barrier homeless shelter.
"It always was the plan. That's why it was so frustrating to hear all of the concerns in public about people on the street, and how we were trying to deal with that. We could not deal with it because, quite frankly, we did not have the money to make it work. That is why this is so important as it puts the entire picture together, in what I hope to see a major change."
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However, Scott Tod, North Bay's police chief, does not see it this way. He believes transitional housing will certainly help get some homeless individuals prepared to get their lives together, but he admits there are others who will not use it.
Another source close to the homeless situation in North Bay told BayToday that close to 40 per cent of the homeless that use the low-barrier shelter will never make it through the transitional housing phases.
"Not having a place to go is very concerning for me as the police leader of the North Bay Police Service," Tod said during the April police board Meeting.
"Everyone needs a place to go to be safe and healthy. Not having that place means they will be out and about in the public in encampments, living in doorways, and living on people's properties, so I think it is really important for them to have a place where they can go to be safe and get some health care. They can get some services provided if they work with the collaboration we have within our community of all the social services."
Tod says a year-round low-barrier shelter is important.
"I think we need a centre for people to go. I think and prefer to see the community somehow come together - the social services come together - and we provide that space for them to go 365 days a year in a 24/7 environment so that people have a choice," said Tod.
