YMCA Sudbury's warming centre for vulnerable population to close at month's end

The temporary emergency warming centre at the YMCA in Greater Sudbury will be closing down at the end of this month.

The facility on Durham Street has been open to the city's vulnerable population for the past 14 months, providing washrooms, showers, a place to eat meals and even a warm overnight space during the winter months.

"We have learned a lot," said Helen Francis, president and CEO of YMCA in Northeastern Ontario.

"We've made lots of great relationships, we built lots of friends within the vulnerable community, but it's definitely really ignited our passion to work on the proactive end of the situation," she added.

Francis says the closure of the warming centre is due to the completion of the contract with the city. The municipality provided funding to the YMCA to operate the warming centre.

"The Y would not have been able to even step up and offer this temporary emergency support had it not been for our partners and funders, which were the City of Greater Sudbury," she said. 

The YMCA began helping the vulnerable population shortly after the pandemic hit in March 2020, offering its washroom facilities. Then in November the services expanded to include a warming centre, with a place for individuals to eat meals, shower and get out of the harsh winter elements overnight. Despite the overnight hours, it did not operate as a shelter.

"We have a much better understanding and appreciation for the challenges that Sudbury's most vulnerable face," Francis said.

"It is an incredibly complex challenge to tackle the mental health, opioid and homelessness crisis that we see — not just in Sudbury, but unfortunately in most northern Ontario communities and arguably in most urban centres," she said.

"It has also strongly renewed our Ys energy to make sure that we are proactively supporting children, youth and families; building their resilience and well-being, and ideally becoming part of the solution and prevention of some of those problems."

Francis says there was a lot of support from other local agencies that work with the vulnerable population in Greater Sudbury.

It's these agencies, Francis says, that are more equipped and more experienced to effectively help individuals long term.

"There's a difference between providing short-term, temporary support and really providing long term sustainable support that can truly help make a difference to the population," she said.

"We would certainly stand behind those agencies and do whatever we can as part of a community solution."

Focus back to core programs, services

Francis says the YMCA will now focus on preparing to reopen core programs and services to its members. The first will be operating day camps at Y locations across the northeast this summer.

Due to continued COVID-19 restrictions, indoor fitness programs and services will still have to wait, although Francis says some outdoor fitness classes will begin this week.

She is hopeful indoor fitness programs can reopen safely in September.