Local non-profits come together to sustain the vulnerable population in North Bay

By Kelly Anne Smith  

NORTH BAY— On Jan. 19, Dr. Kendra Wilkins, an emergency room physician in North Bay, Ont., posted on social media, “Did you know, at a time our shelter-less population is most vulnerable, our community resources are closed. There is no where for people to stay warm on a -30 day. PEP and Circle of Friends and the Gathering Place all closed their doors.”

“We are under the same restrictions as any other restaurant, but have been allowing people in to warm up for several of the coldest days,” stated Dennis Chippa, The Gathering Place Executive Director, in response. “Our concern is with so many of the folks we see having no ID and no proof of vaccination, we put our agency at risk of being closed by an outbreak.”

In December, a point of time count found that 300 people in North Bay are without a home and 42% of that number are Indigenous.

Nipissing First Nation’s True Self – Debwewendizwin’s Executive Director Donna Forget says services have changed.

“We are doing a lot more outreach than we were before,” she explains. “That’s one of the things with our services. We deliver services to everyone.  I can tell you we are pretty comfortable in saying that the majority that we are dealing with through our outreach programs are Indigenous in North Bay. It is definitely the highest percentage of numbers.”

Forget talked of positive action with a community partnership involving Low Income Peoples Involvement (LIPI), the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, the AIDS Committee of North Bay, and True Self – Debwewendizwin.

“We’ve started what we are calling a Housing-Unit Support and Recovery pilot. In that project, our outreach staff are working together in teams. We’ve managed for about 20 of the ones that were homeless through the summer, to actually be put into housing,” says Forget. “What we are doing is going daily and doing wellness checks with them. Just to see if they need anything and see if we can get them set up with any other support services, including looking at the cultural needs. So, if any of them identify that they would like to speak with an Elder or if they want to do a smudge, we will try and make that happen for them by connecting them with someone they can do that with.”

Forget calls it one of the biggest collaborations she has seen in the city.

“On Thursdays, for example, the wellness check is done by one of my staff and one staff from the Indigenous Friendship Centre. On Tuesdays, staff from the AIDS Committee and a staff member from True Self go out. The city is really developing a core team of outreach workers that are working together to support people by getting them into housing and then sustain that housing.”

And The Gathering Place is keeping everybody fed by giving meals to the outreach team.

“If we have a mother and two kids and things are really tight, and they can’t get to a food bank, we can call them and they will do us up a food bag or box that we can drop off to that family. They have been doing the same thing for a lot of those that we have been getting into housing through the partnership we have going,” Forget explains. “Because a lot of the homeless, when you are looking at getting things set up for them, one of the things we are finding more and more, is that they have no identification, just through the shuffles of the challenges of being homeless… If they don’t have ID, they can’t go to the Food Bank. They are in a spot where there is no other place to get food unless we reach out to The Gathering Place.”

Forget says The Gathering Place is essential.

“When we have people who need it, we make the call over to The Gathering Place and tell them what the family needs are and they do us up a bag. Staff will pick it up and deliver it,” she says. “And that’s not going to stop anytime soon.”

North Bay Councillor and District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board Chair Mark King has been working to get people homed but now in the middle of winter, the elements have been hard on those without a home.

Hopefully, in six-to-eight months, people will be able to be in the Low Barrier Shelter to stay warm indoors in the daytime during a deep freeze. The shelter provides 20 spaces. Until then, people are asked to leave by 8 am, forcing them to find shelter to survive until 8 pm and somehow walk there again in a -40-degree night. As Vice President of Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association (NOSDA), King will lobby the province Monday for long-term funding for the Low Barrier Shelter.

King says a warming centre could be open right now if an operator with staff stepped in.

“That would be the old health unit. That was arranged in and around Christmas. The problem is that there is literally no one to operate it, absolutely no support systems available at this particular time with COVID-19.”

There is good news though with the Gateway House open and 16 people are now in transitional housing.

King adds that many more opportunities of shelter have been identified in the community with the Indigenous Friendship Centre involved.

Kathy Fortin is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Friendship Centre.

“We are all non-profit organizations. We try to share with our other agencies that do service our clientele. The Gathering Place is used by all the clients.”

Commenting on the added costs of restrictions and take-out containers, Fortin suggests that the city should give more support to The Gathering Place and the non-profits that the city relies on.

Fortin says with the Housing-Unit Support and Recovery pilot pooling resources, mostly person power, it is helping some that need it. But she suggests city representatives get their own boots on the ground for a closer look at what is going on.

“It’s horrific but the city only gets what some people bring back to them. A big part of the homelessness is that the city needs to step up. These little non-profits need more money and more people power.”

Fortin is excited that the new building being built across the street is right on schedule. The Suswin Project will be a home for 30 people.

“Completion date is April 6. We might be doing the grand opening mid-July, but we are hoping to open in mid-June.”

As the cold sets in, the Gathering Place passes out warming packs and offers hot chocolate. There are stories of paramedics passing out hats, mitts, and granola bars to help people survive. Nurses are warming patients. Agencies are sneaking in a few cold souls at a time to warm up. And a doctor is angry with the city’s lack of resources to keep people warm. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the vulnerable can’t stand around. It’s too cold so they walk quickly to shelter. But where?