Getting To Know the “Out Of The Cold” Homeless Shelter in Sioux Lookout Ontario
Getting To Know the “Out Of The Cold” Homeless Shelter in Sioux Lookout Ontario
Root causes of aboriginal homelessness in Sioux Lookout Ontario
http://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/3lnm4pky.pdf
$30,000.00 over 12 months to hire a consultant to help develop a “housing first” model of service for the community that will include supported housing, managed alcohol and non-medical detox for people in Sioux Lookout who are homeless or considered hard to house. This model will be developed in partnership with the 23 organizations who form the Healthy Communities Task Force.- 2014
http://www.otf.ca/latest-grants-awarded-filter/45/156
Provides accommodations in a group facility for individuals requiring overnight emergency shelter and day-time drop-in
Agency Services
Food Bank
Provides beds for up to twenty adults
Provides a hot supper (usually soup and bread)
Provides a breakfast (usually oatmeal, toast, egg and coffee or tea)
Accepts donations of soup and food items
Recruits volunteers to assist with the shelter
Offers referrals to addictions counseling and other supports
Hours Mon-Sun 24 hours
Supper: served from 5 pm-8 pm
Breakfast: served at 7 am
Areas Served : Sioux Lookout ; Sioux Lookout District First Nations communities
Eligibility Ages: 16 year(s) and up
http://search.211north.ca/record/KEN0072
Shelter funding
The Out of the Cold shelter has an annual budget of about $250,000.
Most of its funding comes from federal and provincial governments.
Sioux Lookout has provided some funding to the shelter for the last four years. Last year it gave the organization $10,000, four years ago the amount was $25,000.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/sioux-lookout-shelter-fears-loss-of-town-funding-1.1170847
Out of the Cold shelter prizes community commitment over cash
Thursday March 11, 1999 Jody Porter
For the Sioux Lookout Out of the Cold program, volunteers have often been more difficult to come by than money.
March 11, 1999: Volume 26 #05
The homeless shelter requires three shifts of two volunteers each for each of the three days it operates per week.
“We couldn’t be open without someone there to ensure the people are safe,” said spokesperson Lynn Button. “Volunteers make that happen.”
But it’s that community-based philosophy that resulted in $10,000 of new funding from the provincial government last month. “Municipalities are best suited to identify and develop solutions to meet the needs of their homeless,” said Minister of Northern Development and Mines Chris Hodgson. “They are familiar with local issues, priorities and resources and have the most direct contact with their citizens and grass roots agencies.”
The new money from the province will be spent over the summer renovating the shelter so that the men and women are better segregated, Button said.
“We’re looking at this as a safety net, rather than saying this program is going to survive on government money,” she said.
Relying on the contributions of local people and connections with other local agencies will ensure the success of the shelter by continuing to keep the community involved, she said.
So, at a volunteer appreciation party on Feb. 28, it was the manpower, more than the money that was celebrated.
Volunteers are people “who make sure they don’t live in a town where people freeze to death,” Button said. “That’s the commitment they make.” Miriam MacDonald is among the 75 volunteers who have kept the doors of the shelter open this season. “Every time I’ve gone to the shelter, I’ve had nothing but a positive experience,” she said. “It’s been humbling and rewarding.”
While the shelter closes its doors for the season on Easter weekend, Button said they are still looking for volunteers to give the ‘regulars’ a break, during the month of March. “Give it a chance,” MacDonald said. “Everyone who has tried it has enjoyed it.”
Out of the Cold Shelter looking for volunteers, donations
Tim Brody – Associate Editor 2014
The Out of the Cold Shelter in Sioux Lookout is in dire need of volunteers.
“Our need is extreme. We really need volunteers. We have a very small pool of volunteers right now. We’ll need volunteers through Christmas and after Christmas. It’s an ongoing need,” shared Out of the Cold Shelter executive director Susan Barclay.
She explained, “We generally have community volunteers in the evening from 6 p.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. They generally help in the kitchen with serving the meal and cleaning up and just interacting with the clients and making sure everything is running smoothly. It’s a good way to get your community hours for your Grade 12 diploma or just to give back to your community.”
With Christmas right around the corner, Barclay said she expects demand for the shelter’s food bank service to be high at the end of the month. “People will have used their disposable income to try to make Christmas for their kids and they will have less money in their pockets toward the end of the month. Something that does make a difference is the Nishnawbe-Gamik Friendship Centre’s Christmas hampers. That will give many of the same people we see at the food bank a boost over Christmas.”
Barclay explained, “On average we’re seeing about 50 households every month using the food bank. Some of them are single persons, others are larger families. For the most part they are families. We have a number of seniors and working single people who use the food bank all the time to supplement their income. As far as supply it’s reasonable but we never have enough canned vegetables or fruit or pasta. Those items are always gone from our shelves the moment they come in,” she said.
To access the food bank people just need to drop by Out of the Cold at 25 Fair Street Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The shelter recently received support from the local Tim Hortons, which donated the proceeds of their smile cookies to the shelter. Smile cookies were sold at Tim Hortons in Sioux Lookout for about a week earlier this year. Tim Hortons co-manager Scott Haines stated, “We’re excited to support them. People come to town and for whatever reason need to access the shelter and it’s there to help.”
Barclay commented, “We really appreciate it. Every little bit helps. We are trying to stay open, especially now that it is cold, all day long. The shelter is open all day, every day and people need only behave while they are here.”
See more at: http://www.siouxbulletin.com/out-of-the-cold-shelter-looking-for-volunteers-donations#sthash.9QefaCb3.dpuf
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