What was once a home for nuns has transformed into a shelter and affordable housing
The Gathering Place expansion can house triple the guests as the former shelter
The Sisters of Mercy Convent in downtown St. John's used to house nuns. Now, the 19th century building can sleep and house nearly 100 people struggling to find a safe place to rest or call home.
The historic building's transformation was a multi-million dollar project from the Gathering Place, a community health centre and hub in downtown St. John's that has struggled to keep up with demand in its 30-bed emergency shelter.
The new expansion, located beside the historic Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Military Road, has off-white walls and shining floors, but there are hints of the past throughout — stone wall fixtures, large wooden doors and an original section of tiled flooring with the word "Mercy" engraved in it. Those pieces maintain the building's original 1800s craftsmanship.
The Gathering Place is calling the four-floored building Mercy House. There's a new emergency shelter on the first floor, which was previously offered in the Gathering Place's main auditorium. The remaining floors are for transitional and supportive housing units, the latter of which will become people's permanent residences.
As homelessness rates rise in the capital city, the Gathering Place's housing manager, Sherry Whittle, says the convent's new affordable housing units will offer stability to people who have been stuck in limbo in the shelter system or on the streets.
"You get an extra kick in your spirit, actually," said Whittle. "My whole spirit is just elated to know that this is what we have the opportunity to provide now."
The new shelter
The new emergency shelter has 40 beds, up from 30 at the former shelter. The new shelter also has four separate sleeping areas and all of the beds now have a privacy barrier, whereas the former shelter only had two separate spaces and there weren't any walls between the beds for privacy.
Kim Grant, the Gathering Place's associate executive director, says the expansion of shelter services comes with a sigh of relief. When she first began working with the Gathering Place in 2020, there were over 200 guests within their system. That number has grown to over 2,000.
"When we first opened our doors with the temporary shelter, we were rarely at capacity," she said. "Probably for the last year, we have been at full capacity every night…. And unfortunately, we're at a point as well where we're having to turn people away at the door."
While shelter guests previously congregated on Military Road as they waited for a bed, Grant says they now have to go through an intake office at the side of the building, where they'll meet with staff and be assigned a locker and a bed.
The new shelter opened on Oct. 30, and its hours are 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every day.
Transitional housing
Transitional housing is located on the building's second floor. It's for people in the shelter who are trying to transition into a more permanent living situation.
"The idea of our transitional floor is for people who've been staying in the shelter for longer periods of time and are wanting to move out of [the] shelter, but not quite ready to move into independent living in the community," said Grant.
It has 20 beds, including eight individual rooms and two rooms with congregate living arrangements. All rooms are equipped with nightstands and mini-fridges.
Whittle says securing a spot in a transitional housing unit happens through referral, and that potential guests will complete an application. People will be prioritized based on certain criteria, including how long they've been homeless.
People will have to pay for transitional housing, says Grant, but the Gathering Place is still determining prices and rental agreements.
Guests stay in transitional housing units for 18 months and up to two years as they wait for a more permanent housing solution.
Supportive housing
The top two floors of the Mercy House are for supportive housing units, which are going to become permanent homes for some. There are 15 units on each floor, two of which can accommodate couples. Each room has a mini-fridge, microwave, sink, storage, a nightstand and a television.
Supportive housing is also based on a rental agreement with the Gathering Place, says Grant, but those details are still being sorted out.
This option offers people more independence than transitional housing, says Grant, but there will still be staff support. For instance, she says, there will be live-in resident advisors that guests can go to if there are any issues on the floor.
Those who live in supportive housing units have their own swipe card that gives them access to the building and their room. Tenants have their own entrance through the facility's main courtyard, which is separate from the intake office for shelter and transitional housing guests.
Transitional and supportive housing tenants have access to the building 24/7, as opposed to shelter guests, who have to leave at 8 a.m. All guests and tenants will have access to programming in the Gathering Place's main building, says Grant.
The transitional and supportive housing units are not currently operating but will be phased in over time.
A long time coming
Nuns with the Sisters of Mercy Convent established the Gathering Place in 1994, which has grown to provide services such as daily hot meals, social groups, and a dental and medical clinic.
It opened its emergency shelter in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shelter initially offered guests Red Cross cots on the floor of its auditorium — a temporary sleeping solution to those who didn't have a roof over their heads.
"We, I guess, were a little bit naive to think that people would be coming in, staying a couple of nights and moving on," said Grant. "And that didn't happen."
She says the Sisters of Mercy Convent's population was steadily declining, and in 2020 the two remaining sisters left the convent building. That's when the sisters gifted their home to the Gathering Place to help house others.
The organization received a $2-million donation from couple Pat O'Callaghan and Paula Boucher to transform the space. The Gathering Place leveraged that money to secure funding from the federal and provincial governments, and soon after it took over the convent building and got to work.
The new facility has tripled the number of people who can sleep at the Gathering Place. The biggest change, says Whittle, is that some who have been stuck in the emergency shelter system will now be able to transition to something more permanent — a place they can call home.
"Now, we can take someone who comes to the emergency shelter and can look forward with them, and move them along in their journey of where they need to go to next, and actually walk alongside them at some of their darkest times and their hard times," she said.
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