New partnership to operate downtown Kitchener shelter
It’s another step in the Region of Waterloo’s search to provide more shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
On Thursday, the region invited media to tour its new 50-bed men’s emergency shelter in downtown Kitchener and introduced the people running it.
“People experiencing homelessness do not always have a lot of stability within their life, so if they know that they have accommodations the following evening that enables them to connect with supports in the community,” Frederick Street Emergency Shelter manager Aaron Deanes said.
While the space isn’t new – it’s been used a shelter before – the people running it are.
For the first time, the Region of Waterloo is partnering with Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP), a non-profit housing and health service provider.
It’s the first time SHIP is working in the region.
“We're an organization that has been primarily been providing support in the Region of Peel, County of Dufferin and west Toronto,” SHIP CEO Lesley Nagoda said. “But what attracted us into coming in this space and into the community is the innovative and great work that the Region of Waterloo is doing
SHIP CEO Lesley Nagoda appears during an interview with CTV News at the Frederick Street Emergency Shelter on Jan. 12, 2023. (CTV Kitchener)
The space is owned by YW. The organization previously operated it as temporary winter overflow.
“We knew this space was here, we knew it could accommodate additional capacity within the system,” said Region of Waterloo assistant director of housing Kelly-Anne Salerno. “So it was just about getting a provider to be able to operate the space. YW couldn’t do it just based on their human resource capacity.”
Right now the shelter is only available overnight, but SHIP says the goal is to eventually have it open 24-7.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.