For Further Information contact: The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) at 249-878-7227.
On International Human Rights Day Anti-Poverty Activists call for Winter Shelter for the Homeless at City Council Meeting.
Tonight just before the start of the at last Sudbury City Council meeting before the holidays nine anti-poverty activists stood up and called for the establishment of a winter warm up space and emergency shelter for the entire winter and not only in declared winter cold emergencies. Pointing out that Dec. 10th is International Human Rights Day they pointed to the violations of the human rights of the homeless going on in the city. Three activists read the following statement:
· “Urgent: Sudbury homeless need a night-time place to stay warm, equivalent or better to what they had at the Elgin Street Mission, for the entire winter. We demand that the city address this shortage, Now!”
They demanded that the City take immediate action to set up a replacement space for the Mission for the winter. So far a statement to City Council from the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) and a meeting with City staff has led to no progress on meeting the needs of the homeless who need a place out of the cold.
For the last six years the Mission has been open every night in the winter as a warm up station and emergency shelter for the homeless. This year the Mission decided they could no longer do this aside from those nights when the City funds them when it declares a cold weather emergency. The closure of this space for many nights this winter means that homeless people who are excluded from the other shelters or refuse to go to them for very important reasons are forced to live out in the cold.
Especially given that we now know that Social Services has $300,000 in reserve funding the City must move immediately to provide an out of the cold emergency space for people every night this winter. The funds are available the problem is the lack of political will so far to do this.
S-CAP will be returning to City Council and City Committee meetings to ensure that the needs of the homeless are addressed.
For further information contact: The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) at 249-878-7227.
The site for the Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
The Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op was formed to create independent media in the North, to speak to our issues and outlooks on our communities as well as the world around us. Independent media provides an avenue for people who are wishing to gain critical perspective on the issues that matter most to us, and to give a voice to those people and stories that you won't find in the mainstream media.
The Sudbury working-group site is no longer being updated and has been archived.