Niagara Falls and St. Catharines sites to become year round
The Niagara region is working to change its seasonal homeless shelters in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines into year round.
Commissioner of Community Services Adrienne Jugley noted they're having more success with the Niagara Falls site. For the time being, they're looking for a temporary site in St. Catharines, as they work at changing the seasonal to permanent.
She adds while they talk to Niagara Falls area residents about concerns, the region does not seek their permission. "What we do instead is work with the municipality, and that we looked at ways of operating it so that it doesn't have a negative impact on the community... and we respect the fact that these things raise concerns."
As for St. Catharines, she says there's not too much space or appropriate venues.
"We have also learned the hard way that trying to convert things that were previously for commercial use to a residential, or a shelter use, is actually much more complicated than we ever imagined," she says.
The estimated annual cost to run a 60 bed emergency shelter is over $1.8-million.
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