Out of the Cold loses another site, program down to 2 nights
Out of the Cold has lost another site, leaving the program with overnight shelter only two nights a week.
Church of the Holy Saviour in Waterloo told CBC News Thursday that it would be leaving the program and throwing its support behind Mary's Place and the proposed new YWCA shelter in downtown Kitchener.
Church of the Holy Saviour was a secondary Out of the Cold site and served only female guests. The church decided it wanted to support existing shelter options for women after meeting with other outreach workers in the region.
"Last spring I had a long conversation with the director of Mary's Place and I discovered the highest number of women we had one night was 19 and she told me they could have accommodated all of those women at Mary's Place and then some. And I just thought, 'why are we doing this?'" said Tricia Siemens, co-coordinator of the Church of the Holy Saviour Out of the Cold program.
"We felt that if they are offering one permanent spot, and our guests don't have to pack up and move every night of the week to a different location that this makes far more sense," said Siemens.
Over the past year, eight sites have withdrawn from the program. Only First United Church and St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, both in Waterloo, remain as overnight shelter sites, operating on Friday and Sunday nights.
St. Matthews Lutheran Church and Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church are also involved in the program, serving meals on Wednesday and Saturday nights. St. Matthews also serves meals on Thursday mornings.