Mark King, chair of the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB), says he’s confident a new operator will step in to run the low-barrier homeless shelter on Chippewa Street.
“There are other organizations that are very well-suited to the operation and it’s my hope that one of them step up,” he said.
King says if no other organizations come forward to operate the shelter, DNSSAB will do it.
“That would require a fair bit of change inside the organization but it’s not like we couldn’t do it,” he noted.
The shelter on Chippewa Street and previous ones at Pete Palangio Arena and the YMCA have been operated by Nipissing Mental Health Housing and Support Services (NMHHSS), which announced it will no longer operate the shelter beginning May 1.
The organization stated the reason behind the decision was due to a strain on its resources.
King was not able to provide exact numbers on how much it costs to operate the low-barrier shelter, saying he’s waiting for a report to the board next week.
“It’s been all over the map from the pricing standpoint,” he observed.
King acknowledged the difficulty NNHHSS faced in addressing a rise in homelessness brought on by the pandemic last spring.
“There’s been no pattern in the past that provides an opportunity to try and figure out how to deal with it,” he said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of work that’s been done over the past eight months.”
DNSSAB is still awaiting final word on its application to the federal government’s Rapid Housing Strategy. King plans to use the money to build low-income housing in the area.
This is on top of the already-established plan to build transitional housing units at the Chippewa Street site.
“I do believe at the end of the day when we move to transitional housing we will make a major difference in many people’s lives,” he said.
