New partnership agreement secures home for embattled Kenora, Ont. shelter

A new agreement reached in Kenora, Ont. has secured a space for the community's homeless shelter for the next two years.

According to a press release issued by the Kenora District Services Board on Wednesday, the group said it has entered into a partnership with the Northwestern Health Unit, which will allow the Ne-Chee Friendship Centre to continue to operate the shelter in the basement of the health unit's building.

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"The uncertainty of the emergency shelter has been very difficult for the community of Kenora," Henry Wall, the chief administrative officer of the services board was quoted as saying in the release.

"For this reason, we see this partnership between the health unit and the friendship centre as a great opportunity for the community to bring public health and culturally sensitive services into the operations of the emergency shelter as we work towards an inclusive solution."

The shelter has faced an uncertain future ever since a city council vote on a zoning bylaw disallowed a new facility from operating in the downtown area. Since July 1, the makeshift program has been operating out of the basement gym at Knox United Church.

The KDSB said that nearly 600 people rely on the shelter each year.

"We want to make sure that we get this right, and that we have enough time to develop a solution to end homelessness that will make sense for the community and that is sustainable long term," Barry Baltessen, the board chair, stated in the news release.

"With the cold winter months approaching, there has to be a shelter in place to ensure that the community's most vulnerable people have a place to go."

The Kenora services board said it will use the next two years to consult the community and other stakeholders, with the aim of developing a plan to reduce homelessness, and to find a permanent home for an emergency shelter.