Nov. 23, 2014 – For Immediate Release
Contact: S-CAP at 249-878-7227
Why is the Out of the Cold Shelter Not Open Yet?
Members of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) and supporters of the Out of the Cold Shelter are visiting the site for the shelter tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 24th) to ask why this shelter has not been opened yet. A media conference will be held starting at 2pm outside 200 Larch Street (across from the Provincial Building). Speakers at the conference will include Carol Kauppi, Professor of Social Work at Laurentian University who has studied homelessness in Sudbury along with members of S-CAP. On open letter to Mayor Elect Brian Bigger calling for immediate action to open an Out of the Cold shelter will be launched at this media conference.
The City promised to have the Out of the Cold shelter open in about two weeks time at the Nov. 4th City Council meeting. Now we are being told by the City that it will be opening sometime in early December which could be two to three weeks from now. The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) demands that this shelter be opened immediately. The City has a responsibility to provide homeless people with a safe and warm place to sleep.
S-CAP also continues to raise concerns regarding this shelter that come from homeless people themselves. Those who have had problems with Salvation Army staff in the past want there to be City staff for the shelter who are not associated with the Salvation Army. In Toronto and many other places most shelters are staffed by City workers. They also want the shelter to be open on either a 24 hour basis, or at least with more extended hours, since it is very cold in Sudbury during the day in the winter. Being open only from 8pm to 7am leaves many of these homeless people out in the Cold for the rest of the day.
The shelter is not a longer term solution to the problem of homelessness but is an immediate way for people to get warmth and a place to sleep. We need safe and accessible affordable housing to be made available in Sudbury and we also need higher social assistance rates so that people can pay the higher rents that are being demanded by landlords.
For more information contact: 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The site for the Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated.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.