Today’s Northumberland has confirmed that eight hotel rooms booked for the homeless sat empty.
Eight double-bed rooms were booked at the Comfort Inn on Thursday, October 31, 2024 by Northumberland County.
Northumberland County was to provide a list of names of people who would be staying at the Comfort Inn overnight – but the Comfort Inn never received those names Today’s Northumberland has learned.
The total amount of money for the rooms was approximately $1,600.
Director of Communications for Northumberland County, Kate Campbell confirmed on Friday, November 1, 2024 the rooms were empty.
“I can confirm that within 48 hours of County Council’s direction to expand shelter system capacity through the use of additional motel rooms, County and Transition House staff secured 8 additional motel rooms, and are now finalizing a staffing model to ensure professional emergency shelter and outreach staff are in place to rotate to these locations providing check-ins and supports.
With these measures in place, staff will today be assessing client need through the formal intake process, and placing people in either the shelter or motel rooms based on the most appropriate allocation. We anticipate the majority, if not all, of available shelter system space will be occupied within the next 24 hours, based on Transition House’s updated capacity, and the interest expressed from people seeking to move from encampment to shelter services.
While motel accommodations are not the preferred model for emergency shelter, our hope is that this will be a temporary solution and we will be able to welcome all clients to our new shelter location at 310 Division Street in the near future.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
