People without housing in Windsor-Essex struggling to stay warm as temperature drops

Some people without housing say they're huddling in groups to stay warm and facing issues as temperatures dip in Windsor-Essex.

Bob Bennett, for instance, said he was treated at the County of Essex Homelessness Hub on Tuesday for frostbite on his fingers.

"I can't feel the tips of them," he said.

"I can smash them on the ground, and they don't hurt. I can't feel myself picking up anything. I'll fumble it, drop it. … You can't even feel a cigarette in your hand."

Temperatures in the southwestern Ontario region dropped from an average daytime high of 3.7 C in December to nearly –2 C in January, according to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada's website.

Overnight lows have fallen below –10 C at times.

Several clients of the Homelessness Hub, located in Leamington, told CBC they can keep warm during the day at the bank, the library or Tim Hortons.

But in the evening, they're out in the cold until the shelter opens at 10 p.m., they said.

So they huddle in groups of two or three or more, and chain smoke in an effort to keep warm.

Staff at the Leamington Community Hope Centre subsequently confirmed to CBC that their facility, located about 25 minutes on foot from the Homelessness Hub, operates a drop-in from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily and offers a warm meal, snacks, warm clothing and hygiene products. 

Roy Hyde, manager of pastoral care for the centre, where serves 80 to 100 people each night, said he was surprised to learn that some people without homes believed they had nowhere to go in the evening.

"I would tell them to come on over," he said.

Bennett said stores kick out unhoused people even though they buy things every day.

"You feel like a lowlife," he said.

"You're nothing. You're scum, you know? … Everybody judges you every day down here."

Bennett and fellow hub clients said they would love to have a place to shower. 

One man said he hadn't showered since he was evicted from his home in mid-December.

The clients, one of whom became homeless two years ago because he could no longer afford rent on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), said the hub has been helpful about providing hats, gloves and other warm clothes.

"The hub bends over backwards for us homeless people," Bennett added.

"I'm telling you, they help us out down here big time like that."

Organizations that serve unhoused people in Windsor-Essex say they welcome donations of warm clothes to help keep up with demand.

"It's wonderful to get the ones in bulk from the dollar store, the thin ones," said Lady Laforet, executive director of the Welcome Centre.

"But in weather like this, [what] we really, really need is the thicker, more insulated … hats — anything woolen that tends to take water the best and last the longest."

Downtown Mission executive director Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin said her organization also welcomes clothing donations.

"We are not in dire need right now, which is good because right now it's pretty cold out there," she said. "But definitely I would say by the end of January and into February, we'll probably be needing kind of like a restock to get us through the month of February at least." 

Both the mission and the Welcome Centre say they're seeing increased usage as the temperature drops.

The mission's beds and crash mats are full and its warming centre is hosting 40 to 60 people each night, Ponniah-Goulin said, marking a slight increase over last year. 

Around 150 people per day visit in the daytime. 

The Welcome Centre is now serving around 10 people per night, Laforet said. That's up from three or four in December.

Around 32 people are staying in its shelter.