Homeless drop-in centre The Open Door relocates to church on Parc Ave.

After spending three decades on Ste-Catherine Street near Atwater Metro and Cabot Square, The Open Door homeless shelter has moved to a new home on Parc Avenue.

Following news that the original location, St. Stephen's Anglican Church, was going to be sold, the shelter's administrators started looking for a new place to set up.

Volunteers gathered Friday to help pack and move the operation to Notre-Dame De La Salette Church, on the corner of Parc Avenue and Milton Street.

The Open Door is one of the few "wet" shelters in the city, accepting clients that others turn away due to intoxication or struggles with addiction.

The centre offers a wide variety of services including food, clothing, counselling and a safe place to rest or get warm.

Roughly half of the 150 people who come to The Open Door daily are Inuit, so the centre also offers carving, housing and transition programs for those hoping to return north.

The Open Door's new space in the basement of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette Church has some upgrades from the old one, like a better kitchen, more office space and showers.

But it's far from the old site — about a 40-minute walk from Cabot Square, where many of the shelter's clientele congregate.

David Chapman, acting director of The Open Door, said he's hoping the centre will still be able to fill the needs of the community.

"While there is a chapter that's ending, there's also a new chapter that's beginning," he said.

When the new location was announced in July, some residents launched a petition citing concerns over a possible influx of homeless people into the area.

"Neighbourhood after neighbourhood that we've looked at, it's the same response — no real surprise. Most people like the idea of services for the homeless, they just don't like the idea of having it in their neighbourhood," said Chapman.

The Open Door signed a five-year lease agreement with Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette Church.

Elliot Kerr, who teaches at Dawson College, said he was sad to see The Open Door move out of the neighbourhood. He volunteered to lend a hand during the move on Friday.

"I just found out that they needed cars, and people, to move today. I happen to not teach on Fridays, so I thought I'd show up and help out," he said.