Interest is heating up for a new cooling centre location for Barrie’s homeless.
The County of Simcoe, recognizing a need to help people experiencing homelessness depending on weather, is seeking qualified and experienced operators to run, on a one-time basis, cooling centres in Barrie, Orillia, Collingwood, Alliston and Midland, from July 17 to Sept. 15 this year.
Bids closed Friday, July 7, 2023 at 2 p.m. on a request for expression of interest, to provide cooling centres across Simcoe County.
Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the county’s general manager of social and community services, gave no hint where new sites would go.
“The proposals' level and quality will dictate the programs' locations and timing,” he said. “In other words, while we aim to stand up the sites as soon as possible, we can only go where the proposals lead us.”
While 29 Sperling Dr. in Barrie continues to be probed, other city space is now being actively investigated.
“The city is collaborating with the county related to cooling and warming centres in Barrie and anticipates providing financial support towards the selected centre operations,” said Dawn McAlpine, Barrie’s general manager of community and corporate services. “We have initiated the conversation with the existing tenant at 29 Sperling about the potential for a portion of the space to be utilized as a cooling or warming centre by an agency or organization, but would need information on what shared use might look like from a proponent, before we could progress any further.”
“Our team is working with the county and local social services agencies to finalize plans moving forward,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall, “and we look forward to working with the county in announcing something in the near future.”
On June 21, city council passed a direct motion that city staff investigate the feasibility of using 29 Sperling Dr., the former Barrie police station, as a warming and cooling centre, and for food distribution.
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is leasing space there and wants to continue using the facility until the end of the year, city staff said during that council meeting.
The building is structurally sound, but designed as a police station, and the location isn’t ideal - as many of Barrie’s homeless people are situated in the downtown, some distance from 29 Sperling.
Nuttall was asked if putting the former cop shop on the radar for a cooling/warming centre was intended to spur more interest from the county.
“I think when you underwrite something, saying it’s going to happen, others want to be part of it,” he said. “When it’s just an idea, and people don’t see an avenue for it to happen, it gets less investment of time and resources.”
Fayez-Bahgat said cooling centres exist in many forms.
“In terms of current programs, many cooling centres are designated by the local municipalities’ use of their public spaces - i.e. places already open to the public, libraries, community centres, etc., which we do not play a role in,” he said. “Our service providers will often utilize their space during the daytime as well — shelters and housing resources centres — but as the SSM (system service manager, designated by the province), this service is not within our mandate.
“The reason we have gone beyond our mandate on the cooling and warming centres is that we want to ensure that our services - housing help, outreach and homelessness prevention — are being offered at a place where people are coming inside for what could be the first time to engage our system.”
A warming and cooling centre, and food distribution centre, are part of a controversial May 17 direct motion passed by city council to deal with chronic homelessness and enhance public safety in Barrie.
These measures also include dealing with drug addiction, mental health problems, shelter, counselling, limiting camping in city parks, feeding the hungry in public places and a panhandling ban.
Some of these measures were to become changes to Barrie’s parks use and nuisance bylaws, but on June 21 council sent them back to staff to clarify and update the language.
A public meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 19, at community safety committee’s meeting, on chronic homelessness, addiction and mental health supports in Barrie.
But general committee and city council are scheduled to meet Aug. 16 and these matters could be on the agenda, although as of Friday it had not been set.
