Despite many homeless shelters across Simcoe County expanding capacity during the pandemic since being moved into hotels and motels, many are still hitting their new capacity numbers, forcing some people experiencing homelessness to be turned away.
Emergency shelter in Barrie is mostly divided between four shelters during COVID-19: Youth Haven for young people, the David Busby Centre primarily for men, the Salvation Army Mission Centre for men and families, and the Elizabeth Fry Society mostly for women.
The David Busby Centre has seen major changes since COVID-19, according to executive director Sara Peddle.
“This initiative has been an important collaboration and partnership that we are so thankful for. Our main focus has been to keep people safe as we all get through the pandemic,” Peddle told BarrieToday. “The end result of our efforts is always to create the shortest path from homelessness to housing for each person as everyone is a somebody and deserves a place to call home.”
Pre-pandemic, the shelter had capacity at their Mulcaster Street location for 55 people, plus a warming centre that could house an additional 10 to 15 individuals if needed.
“However, we are currently a seasonal program, therefore we would have been down to zero capacity at the end of May when we closed down for the summer,” Peddle said.
When the pandemic hit, people at the shelter were moved into local hotels, which meant capacity increased to between 60 and 67 'guests' nightly, as the shelter is the primary place for individuals who are exiting institutions such as hospitals and corrections.
Also, the decision was made to stay active past the typical May closing date for as long as needed.
Peddle noted that Busby is now co-locating with Elizabeth Fry Society guests at local hotels and motels. She said that Elizabeth Fry has been able to expand their capacity as they have their own floor at the hotel, so Busby has now reduced their number of spaces for women, although they will still service women should it be needed.
Since March 20, the David Busby Centre has served more than 210 unique individuals with temporary overnight accommodation. As of last week, Peddle said the Busby Centre and Elizabeth Fry Society are serving about 100 unique individuals per night.
Unfortunately, Peddle says there have been nights where the shelters are still reaching their new capacity limits, completely filling the hotels that have opened their doors.
“We have been fortunate to work with a local hotel to rent rooms at a significantly reduced rate which has allowed us to rent all of the rooms in the building between Busby and Elizabeth Fry and serve more people then our home organizations would have been able to serve through this pandemic,” she said.
Peddle added that the Outreach Team is also out seven days a week to help those who are unsheltered.
The Elizabeth Fry Society executive director did not return multiple requests for comment for this story.
Youth Haven in Barrie is the only emergency shelter exclusively for youth in Simcoe County.
Prior to COVID, the maximum capacity for the shelter was 25, broken down as 11 beds for youth identifying as male, six beds for youth identifying as female, five transitional housing beds, and three couches which would often double as emergency beds.
Since COVID measures were put in place, there are currently 18 youth who are being sheltered at a local hotel.
“We are truly their last resort,” said Lucy Gowers, executive director for Youth Haven. “We also co-ordinate with existing social services and agencies to get the necessary supports and resources they need to help them get out of their current situation.”
While Gowers says Youth Haven has not had to add additional staff as part of their COVID response, a number of existing staff who did not work in the shelter have now been redeployed to take on shifts at the hotel working side-by-side with front-line staff.
When the shelter hits capacity, Gowers says diversion is practised as part of intake procedures.
“We ask if they have any other options available to them... friends, family, relatives etc. Most times, a youth is able to find other accommodations, but in the event that we have to turn a youth away, we will work with other agencies and shelter providers to help them find shelter,” she said.
The Salvation Army Barrie Bayside Mission Centre primarily houses men experiencing homelessness, however also has supports in place to help families.
Pre-pandemic, shelter capacity was for 46 men and 12 families. Since the pandemic hit, the capacity has been reduced to 31 men and 12 families. Guests at Salvation Army have not been moved into hotels or motels as physical distancing is possible at their Bayfield Street location.
However, the men’s portion of the shelter is almost at capacity most days, with the family portion reaching about 50 per cent capacity.
Intake for the mission is done through the David Busby Centre. When spaces open up at the Bayside Mission, guests from the Busby Centre are moved to take up the open spaces.
“The main concern and deciding factor for us staying was that we provide two meals a day to the community and if we relocated, this would have created a huge gap,” said Capt. Stephanie Watkinson, executive director of the Salvation Army Barrie Bayside Mission Centre.
While Wilkinson said some funding for the program is received from the County of Simcoe, the bulk of their funding comes from donations through Christmas kettles, year-round supporters and Salvation Army Thrift Store income.
While Peddle, Gowers, Watkinson and the County of Simcoe declined to provide Barrie-specific costing information, the county did release overall costing in May for all eight shelters currently receiving funding through the COVID-19 hotel and motel program.
As of May 8, the county had shelled out nearly $500,000 to house the homeless in hotels and motels to alleviate concerns of COVID-19 infiltrating the local vulnerable population in the tight confines of traditional shelters.
While the program has worked so far with no COVID-19 cases reported in the local shelter system, projections show the provincial and federal funding that pays for the program will only last until about November if spending continues at the same rate.
There are currently eight homeless shelters in Simcoe County being supported through the program: the David Busby Centre in Barrie, Elizabeth Fry Society in Barrie, Youth Haven in Barrie, the Salvation Army Bayside Mission in Barrie, Alliston Out of the Cold, The Lighthouse in Orillia, The Guesthouse in Midland and Out of the Cold Collingwood.
To read our full story on the overall costs associated with the program, click here.
“As you know, we have been receiving great support from the County of Simcoe,” said Gowers. “The mayor's office has been checking in with us by phone. The Barrie police have been looking in on us at the hotel, and our family health team continues to offer their weekly support to our youth by phone.”
Looking to the future, Peddle says the focus needs to be on affordable housing, adding that private landlords who are interested in renting their units are encouraged to call Empower Simcoe or the Busby Centre.
“We believe that the cost of doing nothing would have been way more significant to our community,” said Peddle.
