Off The Street Emergency Shelter closes for the season in Sudbury

The overnight emergency winter shelter in Sudbury is closing its doors for the season.

Monday overnight was the final night for the Canadian Mental Health Association's Off The Street Shelter to be open until November.

This past winter, the shelter was set up in a temporary location in the basement of Christ the King Church on Ste. Anne Road. Its permanent location on Larch Street is currently under renovation.

"We had a very cold winter this year," Cindy Rose, manager of the shelter said."We definitely saw an increase in the patrons that use the shelter."

Rose says between November to the end of February, an average of 33 people would stay each night, putting the shelter at 110 per cent capacity. When it warmed up in March, that number dropped to an average of 26 people per night.

"On any given month we saw between 160 to 225 different individuals who would stay at the shelter," she said.

Rose says people who used the shelter were able to get access to a variety of community services, including housing programs and health care referrals. She says some people choose to not look for permanent housing, but adds others who want to have been able to.

"We've housed about 29 individuals at this point," she said.

"We've still got some pending housing assessments and we're working really closely with the city of Sudbury and the housing network to be able to link all the individuals that we can."

Rose says the congregation at the church welcomed the shelter, but admits it's difficult using a different space. She says work was ongoing with the church and nearby neighbours to address concerns.

"We increased our security staff to be able to give a little bit more wide range of surveillance just to be able to ensure that public safety and stuff is being looked after," she said.

"I think we were very successful at doing that."

Next winter, Rose says the shelter will be back on Larch Street in time to open in November.

"Construction has already started," she said.

"We're hoping to have access in early October and be scheduled to open Nov. 1."