North Bay police chief backs push for funds for 24/7 homeless shelter

North Bay's police chief is backing a call for provincial funding to secure a permanent homeless shelter, warning that strained resources are feeling the toll.

North Bay’s police chief is throwing his support behind a push to enhance and sustain a 24/7 homeless shelter in the city.

“We don’t have as many tools as some of the social service and treatment agencies out there that really need to be funded well,” Chief Daryl Longworth said.

During Tuesday morning’s police board meeting, Longworth said he wrote a letter to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack in early March backing the social services board’s request for provincial money to extend the low-barrier shelter’s services.

The shelter, which is in a temporary location, will have to reduce its hours at the beginning of May because money has dried up.

Longworth told reporters that police resources are affected when there is a gap in services for North Bay’s homeless population.

“When those people are displaced and have nowhere else to go, we, as police, are the ones that usually get the phone call,” he said.

In the letter, Longworth said there are 34 people who are staying in encampments in the District of Nipissing and that, on average, more than 160 people are turned away from the low-barrier shelter per month.

“This leads to higher demand for police, fire and paramedic services, more ER visits and an increased presence in storefronts, alleys, vestibules and other public areas,” he wrote.

“Downtown organizations and businesses are navigating more safety concerns, more requests for assistance and higher operational pressures as they respond to community members who have nowhere else to go.”

A recent homelessness system review and feasibility study found that 24/7 shelter programs offer stability and security and reduce the stress of arranging overnight accommodation and travelling to access meals.

Integrating services would result in more efficient use of resources, potentially reducing operational costs and improving service delivery. Providing consistent integrated services is more challenging across two separate sites, the study concluded.

The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board, the Crisis Centre North Bay and city staff have been working to find a permanent location for a 24/7 shelter and hub.

“We’re limited on not impacting daycares or schools or businesses,” Deputy Mayor Maggie Horsfield said.

“But when you have a city where one side of the entire city is bordered by water and a lot of those services are centralized in the downtown, we have to think about all the different factors impacting businesses.”

An all-day shelter is currently set up at the low-barrier shelter at Northern Pines until April 30.

A couple of months ago, the social services board decided to reduce shelter hours at the Chippewa Street location to just 12 a day starting May 1. It would have to operate with reduced hours until Nov. 1 because the funding just isn’t there.

Board chair Mark King told CTV News the board requires $500,000 to run the 24/7 shelter program throughout the summer.

Safe space, better outcomes

According to the social service board’s website, a permanent homeless shelter/hub would “immediately provide a safe space for homeless individuals to connect with services and navigational support.”

That would help the homeless apply for housing and connect with mental and physical health services. Over time and through partnerships, a hub could “centralize service access and improve health and housing outcomes.”

Due to concerns from emergency and mental health services and the shelter’s neighbours, King said talks are ongoing with the Crisis Centre to extend its hours during the summer, if that’s possible.

That would give the board time to advocate for and hopefully secure the funding it needs from the province.

“If we could find ways to house them and have them receive all the care that they need, I think that’s a better fit to transition them out of homelessness,” Horsfield said.