Newmarket’s seasonal homeless shelter last night threw open its doors and welcomed the community in from the cold.
The Oct. 9 open house at Inn from the Cold provided the public an opportunity to meet shelter clients, staff and volunteers, and learn about the programs and services offered at the Penrose Street facility to help people on their journey out of homelessness.
This includes the upcoming Nov. 4 launch of its overnight program that will offer shelter to 28 male and eight female guests throughout the coldest months of the year until mid-April. During this same time period last year, the shelter turned away 183 people, according to its 2018 annual report.
In an interview with NewmarketToday, shelter client Steve Koteff said he was hopeful of renting his own apartment this week.
“This may be the last time I’m here. I’m looking at a place tomorrow,” Koteff said.
The open house drew a large crowd who toured the facility, nibbled at a buffet table, and stopped by information tables to learn more about the shelter’s programs, including Stability Now.
That transitional housing program launched in February 2018 with financial support from the local community saw a space at the shelter renovated into a four-bedroom apartment.
The rooms are rented at affordable rates to men experiencing chronic homelessness and, together with other social supports, about 80 per cent of program participants are now living independently.
“Stability Now is almost the nth degree of what you’re trying to achieve,” said Tom Taylor, one of the program donors who, when he was mayor of Newmarket in 2004, was instrumental in founding Inn from the Cold. “They are tracking it to see where the participants are now and they are keeping their jobs and apartments.”
Taylor recalled the early days about 15 years ago and the work it took to get Inn from the Cold open.
“At the beginning, we would go around trying to get food from the stores, and we’d get back here, and some nights you’d have enough for dinner and other nights you were a bit short,” he said, admitting that the homeless and those at risk of homelessness have always been close to his heart.
He knows many of the shelter’s guests by name.
“We had no reservations about the need in the community, none whatsoever,” he said. “We raised the money and got the volunteers, and over the years, there’s been so many great volunteers, executive directors and boards. Two original volunteers are still here today.”
Newmarket resident Mike Sheppard, who retired recently from a 37-year career as a commercial airline pilot and who still trains pilots on a part-time basis, said he was looking for volunteer opportunities and learned about the shelter from his son.
He’s been helping out mostly in the evenings at the shelter for the last two years, but also enjoys arriving at the shelter at 5 a.m. to help put a hot nutritious breakfast on the table.
“You see results here, and you get to know some of the guests who come in, and it’s nice to talk with them, they need somebody to talk to,” Sheppard said. “And I even see the guests around town. There’s one nice lady I see all the time downtown, we sit on a bench and I talk to her.”
Sheppard said the shelter “is a solid place” that fills in the gaps due to lack of government and other funding.
“The homeless are people, and they have their issues and their problems, and the help they get here is helping some to get back on their feet,” he said. “Others can’t do that, so we’re filling in where government services haven’t done it. So, they come in for a good meal, come for the drop-ins, and they can do laundry, have a shower, and get some clothing from us.”
Once the overnight shelter program begins, between 200 and 260 volunteers are needed to keep everything running around the clock until mid-April.
That means 12 volunteers are needed seven days a week on two shifts, from 6 to 8:30 a.m., and from 7 to 11 p.m.
Shelter staff work overnight from midnight till morning, when a team of five volunteers arrive daily at about 5:30 a.m. to begin preparing a hot breakfast for guests.
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and apply for the vulnerable sector screening check with York Regional Police.
Several upcoming training sessions have been scheduled, including Oct. 23 from 7 to 9 p.m., and Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Nov. 23 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
To register to volunteer or for more information, visit here, email volunteer coordinator, Martha Berry at [email protected], or call 905-895-8889, ext. 221.
For more information on Inn from the Cold, visit here.
