City Receives Funding to Provide Enhanced Supports to People Experiencing Homelessness during COVID-19

The City of Greater Sudbury has received more than $320,000 from the federal government to support its COVID-19 response capacity and help prevent the spread to our homeless population.

“Now that a local state of emergency has been declared, it allows us to act quickly and move ahead on specific local actions,” said City of Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger. “We will address the critical needs of our vulnerable populations, such as accommodations that allow for social distancing and access to showers and washroom facilities.”

The City is using the funding to enter into an agreement with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CHMA) and Autumnwood Mature Lifestyle Communities to rent the Canada’s Best Value Inn on Regent Street for the next three months.

The CMHA will move the Off the Street Emergency Shelter program out of 200 Larch Street and into the first floor of the hotel. This will provide shelter users with access to washrooms, showers, and beds that allow for proper physical distancing. Shelter users will continue to be supported by CMHA staff.

A Supportive Isolation Shelter will be set up on the second floor, offering 24-hour care for persons who are homeless and are being tested for or are diagnosed with COVOD- 19.

The new support system is expected to be in place by April 15.

The federal government is providing Greater Sudbury with an additional $320,575 to complement the City’s current Reaching Home funding. Reaching Home is Canada’s Homelessness Strategy aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness in communities across the country.

For more information, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/covid.