Sudbury warming centres welcome, but affordable housing still needed, activist says

The City of Sudbury says COVID-19 relief funding for social services is allowing it to expand warming centre services for the homeless.

The YMCA is adding a daytime warming centre for up to 15 people and expanding its space for its overnight warming centre to accommodate 40.

The city is adding more space for eight to 10 people at its daytime drop-in centre on Larch Street to take in 40 at a time.

The Samaritan Centre is extending its hours in the mornings, Monday to Friday, at its drop-in resource room, and Sudbury Action Centre for Youth has extended its hours from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Sudbury housing activist Rob Dimeglio says the warming centres are welcome, but more options are needed.

"There's still more work to do but it's a temporary Band-Aid fix. They're still not looking at the whole issue and trying to create more housing and those sober living areas, those transitional units," he said.

"I know our community mental health and [other]  great organizations [are] using a housing-first approach and I think that is the answer. There has to be more sober living homes and places where they can transition and a facility where they can learn to live life without an addiction."

Dimeglio's comments come on the heels of two public meetings, hosted by the city, to address the current homelessness problem in Sudbury. And as rows of white crosses — erected to honour those lost to the opioid crisis — continues to grow.

"My wife's brother died from the crisis," said Dimeglio, who is executive director at Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin.

"The work we do at the centre, during the summer when we are [doing] outreach, we're just feeding more people now and we're reaching out to more people now. Groups are growing."

Dimeglio says community leaders and the government need to be "more tuned in to our our charities out there on the streets."

"We hear it from the volunteers and their wonderful angels out there on the streets helping our homeless."

The rising numbers of those experiencing homelessness preceeded COVID, he notes.

Dimeglio says he's hopeful the community can find a piece of property "to build on or work with other organizations to build affordable housing for low-income earners or people that are working poor" or others who need assistance. 

"We can build something beautiful in Sudbury so that more people can afford to live ... a project that has dignity, independence and gives people flexibility and control of their lives."