A temporary warming centre opening today will help get around 40 to 50 homeless people out of the cold.
Senior Director of Outreach Services YMCA Reconnect Trevor Goodwin says the former fire station on Assomption Boulevard will be accessible at night starting at 5 o’clock, “We will have a meal there for them and they will be able to come in an warm up. We will stay open until the next morning at 9am. Breakfast will be served as well and then in the daytime, folks will be able to leave and that will allow us time to clean the space.”
Goodwin says the warming centre will have resources including snacks, blankets, pillows, boots, coats, mitts and hand warmers.
The centre will be open until March, “We’re still working with community, the City and the province to try to make sure that we have something concrete and permanent moving forward because we will still need a space for individuals to get out of the heat, and then winter comes every year whether we like it or not. We don’t want to be stuck in this situation as we have been in the last year, scrambling for an emergency space.”
Goodwin says he is optimistic that those who were previously using St-George’s Anglican Church will move to the new warming centre.
The Province of New Brunswick will cover the operational costs of the warming centre.
The City of Moncton will offer the space, and the YMCA ReConnect program, with assistance from the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee will coordinate and operate the emergency facility.
The former fire hall was previously used as a warming centre in 2019.
Goodwin says, “We looked at many different options, and the City was gracious enough to say that we’ve used this space before and we’re comfortable with it. We can offer that space up to you.”
He adds, Harvest House Atlantic and the Salvation Army are both open during the day as warming centres for the homeless..
