Sudbury's Homelessness Network searching for housing for men after shelter closes

The City of Sudbury's Homelessness Network is working on finding a solution for men who will be without a place to go when a men's shelter closes in May.

The Salvation Army announced the closing of its men's shelter, New Life Centre, on Tuesday.

It offers 22 beds for men age 20 and older.

Major Bruce Shirran the Executive Director of the centre says closing the doors was a hard decision to make but necessary for financial reasons. The building is old and there is no money to renovate or relocate, he said.

When the New Life Centre closes on May 10, 2019, it will leave a gap in services.

There will be no emergency shelter available for men until the Off The Street (OTS) Emergency Shelter, which is operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association, opens in November for the winter.

It is currently being renovated.

"Between now and May we'll be working with our community partners to see if we can mend or change or find a solution to meet that gap," Gail Spencer, the Coordinator of Shelters and Homelessness for the city said.

"We're mandated to provide homelessness services and we certainly would like to ensure that we have an emergency shelter available for anyone who needs it," she said.

The city's Homelessness Network will be contacting the men currently living in the shelter to help them find permanent housing, which Spencer says is always the goal.

"We always work from a housing first strategy where we believe emergency shelters should be available when needed but we would always focus on permanent housing and supporting people that have experienced homelessness to get to permanent housing quickly and be accommodated with the right type of supports to help them stay housed," said Spencer.

The eight week timeline to get people out of the New Life Centre and into new housing is leaving some of the men living at the shelter worried.

"We need help, like theres so many people that are in situations where, now where do we turn, who do we talk to, are they going to send us in the right direction or are they just going to kind of sweep us away like they've always done, kind of hide the problem," said Patrick Godin who has been living at the shelter for a little more than a week. 

He said he's been walking around the city looking for places that might be for rent, hoping to find more permanent housing before the shelter closes in May. But he said that might not be as easy for others. 

"Some of us in here have mental issues or somebody has physical issues, and you know there's a lot of seniors in here too who aren't capable really of hitting the ground looking around," he said.

Spencer says it's unfortunate to see the New Life Centre closing as they have been providing emergency shelter for men in the city for many years. 

"Sudbury's a very caring community and we will be there to provide them with supports, one-on-one, on a case-by-case basis as much as possible," said Spencer.