Last spring, Ray of Hope made the decision to close its Tuesday night Out of the Cold program. Last week, St John’s Lutheran Church announced that it would no longer be operating its Thursday night program, and Trinity United Church advised that its Monday night program would also be cancelled. Yesterday, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church followed suit. The news of the closures of four of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Out of the Cold sites was greeted by the public with a level of concern that is testimony to our community’s compassion and caring. But I believe that the Out of the Cold story is really a good news one.
Some fifteen years ago, the two long-established year-round homeless shelters – the House of Friendship’s Charles Street Men’s Hostel, and the YWCA’s Mary’s Place for women and children – were struggling. With little or no government funding, and limited inter-shelter coordination, they struggled to meet the demand, and sometimes struggled to meet the complex needs, of the growing homeless population. Local churches saw that there were some people – primarily men but occasionally women and youth, too – who were falling through the cracks, and they organized themselves to deliver volunteer-run, overnight, wintertime back-up to the formal shelters. One night a week between November and March, each participating church opened its doors to provide a warm welcome, a good meal, and a safe place to sleep to those people who could not access the formal shelters, and they called the program that they created ‘Out of the Cold’. I have no doubt that in doing so they saved some lives. They certainly touched many hearts.
Although the Out of the Cold program only operated part-year, and only served a small percentage of the homeless population of Kitchener-Waterloo, it proved so popular among the people it did serve that instead of being merely an emergency alternative to the year-round shelters, it became for some homeless people the preferred wintertime option. Even when beds were available at the House of Friendship and the YWCA shelters, some people chose to use the churches instead. Their reasons varied, but most said that they appreciated the kindness of the people there, and valued the fact that the volunteers didn’t ask questions and didn’t make any demands of them. And over the years, what was intended to be a temporary, emergency response became a permanent community fixture, to such an extent that when some members of the public and media thought of homeless shelters, they thought of Out of the Cold program first.
But over those fifteen or so years, some profound changes occurred within the year-round shelters. The Region of Waterloo assumed responsibility for the homelessness system’s coordination, and increased shelters’ funding substantially. The YWCA’s family shelter was expanded, new shelters for youth opened, system-wide admission and referral and overflow protocols were developed and implemented, and as a result of these and other measures, the homelessness system’s capacity grew exponentially. And the services and resources that the formal shelters were able to offer their homeless clients increased, too, including intensive, individualized assistance to secure and maintain permanent housing. In 2014, the formal shelter system is well-equipped to serve all of our region’s homeless people, and to support even those with complex needs not only to be warm and fed, but also to move out of persistent homelessness.
When announcing their decisions to discontinue their Out of the Cold programs after 15 years of operations, the churches talked about volunteer exhaustion. They talked, too, about the fact that their volunteers are typically untrained and unequipped to support people with addictions and serious mental illnesses. But the main reason those churches gave was the fact that the formal shelter system has evolved and expanded and greatly enhanced the support services that it can offer to homeless people – services that the Out of the Cold sites simply can’t. And these reasons are legitimate.
What’s also legitimate is the concern of some of the churches that will continue to provide overnight shelter this winter that some of their long-term guests will not want to avail themselves of the year-round shelters. Reaching out to those Out of the Cold program users, understanding their special needs, and doing whatever is possible to accommodate them is a task that the formal shelters and the Region of Waterloo will take on, and one which they’ve already gladly begun.
Some fifteen years ago, the two long-established year-round homeless shelters – the House of Friendship’s Charles Street Men’s Hostel, and the YWCA’s Mary’s Place for women and children – were struggling. With little or no government funding, and limited inter-shelter coordination, they struggled to meet the demand, and sometimes struggled to meet the complex needs, of the growing homeless population. Local churches saw that there were some people – primarily men but occasionally women and youth, too – who were falling through the cracks, and they organized themselves to deliver volunteer-run, overnight, wintertime back-up to the formal shelters. One night a week between November and March, each participating church opened its doors to provide a warm welcome, a good meal, and a safe place to sleep to those people who could not access the formal shelters, and they called the program that they created ‘Out of the Cold’. I have no doubt that in doing so they saved some lives. They certainly touched many hearts.
Although the Out of the Cold program only operated part-year, and only served a small percentage of the homeless population of Kitchener-Waterloo, it proved so popular among the people it did serve that instead of being merely an emergency alternative to the year-round shelters, it became for some homeless people the preferred wintertime option. Even when beds were available at the House of Friendship and the YWCA shelters, some people chose to use the churches instead. Their reasons varied, but most said that they appreciated the kindness of the people there, and valued the fact that the volunteers didn’t ask questions and didn’t make any demands of them. And over the years, what was intended to be a temporary, emergency response became a permanent community fixture, to such an extent that when some members of the public and media thought of homeless shelters, they thought of Out of the Cold program first.
But over those fifteen or so years, some profound changes occurred within the year-round shelters. The Region of Waterloo assumed responsibility for the homelessness system’s coordination, and increased shelters’ funding substantially. The YWCA’s family shelter was expanded, new shelters for youth opened, system-wide admission and referral and overflow protocols were developed and implemented, and as a result of these and other measures, the homelessness system’s capacity grew exponentially. And the services and resources that the formal shelters were able to offer their homeless clients increased, too, including intensive, individualized assistance to secure and maintain permanent housing. In 2014, the formal shelter system is well-equipped to serve all of our region’s homeless people, and to support even those with complex needs not only to be warm and fed, but also to move out of persistent homelessness.
When announcing their decisions to discontinue their Out of the Cold programs after 15 years of operations, the churches talked about volunteer exhaustion. They talked, too, about the fact that their volunteers are typically untrained and unequipped to support people with addictions and serious mental illnesses. But the main reason those churches gave was the fact that the formal shelter system has evolved and expanded and greatly enhanced the support services that it can offer to homeless people – services that the Out of the Cold sites simply can’t. And these reasons are legitimate.
What’s also legitimate is the concern of some of the churches that will continue to provide overnight shelter this winter that some of their long-term guests will not want to avail themselves of the year-round shelters. Reaching out to those Out of the Cold program users, understanding their special needs, and doing whatever is possible to accommodate them is a task that the formal shelters and the Region of Waterloo will take on, and one which they’ve already gladly begun.