By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
As of Friday, Feb. 27, new extended hours are in effect at Northumberland County’s emergency warming hub at 555 Courthouse Rd., Cobourg.
In a change from a blanket 8 p.m.-to-8 a.m. structure, hours are now around the clock on weekends, and 4:30 p.m.-to-8:30 a.m. on weekdays. This will have the effect of ensuring 24-hour access to warming for the homeless – while public facilities such as municipal buildings are open during regular business hours, there had been no such access during weekends.
The big surprise came from Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland who made an amendment to the motion.
From insisting that Northumberland County could not possibly have a warming room this past winter unless it was on county-owned land, Cleveland has offered a Cobourg location for a year-round 24/7 warming-cooling hub – the upstairs portion of the town-owned Building 18 on D’Arcy Street, just south of the Cobourg Community Centre.
Cobourg council passed the Emergency Care Establishment bylaw last spring that limits to two the number of emergency-care establishments that can be licensed, and both licenses are taken – for the Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre and the county homeless shelter at 310 Division St. The warming room has operated under an exemption that expires March 31.
For this year’s warming room, set up in Committee Room A at the county building on Courthouse Road, the change in hours will cost an estimated $20,000, according to a report by Associate Director of Housing and Homelessness Rebecca Snelgrove and Community and Social Services Housing and Homelessness Supervisor Lisa Martin. The motion county council passed authorizes drawing funds from reserves, if necessary.
Typically, a population of 20 can be expected, Snelgrove reported. And while this is a more or less reliable estimate, costs are less predictable. Because of the extreme weather for example, they need more of everything than they figured – more hand warmers, more gloves, more cream, more food supplies.
The report spoke of working closely with the town, as well as with the fire department, to ensure that the extended hours will be both permitted and safe.
As for Building 18, several councillors admitted they had no idea where the building was or if it was in use. In fact, it does have two tenants on the ground floor, and the proposed 24/7 warming-cooling hub would be located on the untenanted second floor.
Prior to the debate, two presentations were made to county council – one of them by Diane Manol, who had addressed Cobourg council two days earlier to insist that Building 18 is unsuitable due to its already being occupied by two very vulnerable populations. One of them is the young members of Northumberland Youth For Christ. The other is the Victorian Order of Nurses day programming centre for seniors with cognitive issues and dementia.
Manol’s presentation came when Cobourg council heard a report on the work being done, in contemplation of such a facility being established there and operated by the town. Asked if council would get behind Cleveland’s offer, he said he can’t speak for his council – but they have gone along with the work that has been done to this point, so it seems likely that they would back his new plan.
“Every accommodation will be made to ensure the current tenants are separated,” Cleveland pledged, without specifying whom those tenants are.
This is a town-owned property, he added, so the town will handle the necessary leasehold renovations.
He offered to add a simple private office to enable confidential consultations necessary for the delivery of social services. He also said that there will be a private entrance for this space.
Councillor Brian Ostrander noted that this fits in with a previous county council directive to staff to find a more permanent solution to the problem of winter warming hubs.
“I don’t know where this building is, and I look forward to seeing it,” Ostrander said, calling the opportunity “a giant step forward.”
