It's dangerously cold in Toronto and for anyone without adequate shelter, it could be deadly.
But thankfully, as of Monday night, a new emergency warming centre for Toronto's homeless population opened for the first time.
At 3 p.m. on Monday, the City’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration Division (SSHA) opened the rotunda at Metro Hall as a warming centre for the duration of the alert. According to a city statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the Metro Hall warming centre is still a "pilot" project, but will "automatically [be] opened as a Warming Centre at 3 p.m.. on the day an Extreme Cold Weather Alert is called" for the duration of this winter.
According to the same press release, "at Metro Hall, people can get warm, have a hot drink and a light snack, and obtain assistance to access an emergency shelter bed. Pets are welcome and the Warming Centre remains open 24 hours a day for the duration of the Extreme Cold Weather Alert."
The
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) has long agitated for Metro Hall to be used as a warming centre, even staging a demonstration at the city-owned building last March.
While the City was slow to officially announce the launch of the new pilot program (City Hall didn't release anything official until Tuesday afternoon), OCAP issued their own statment addressing Metro Hall's opening early Monday evening, the organization described the warming centre as "a small but important victory that comes after much pressure from the community and supportive Councillors."
The opening of the Metro Hall space was also suggested to City Council in a December staff report. The shelter was potentially to be opened in late-January, but this week's extreme cold spell seems to have pushed the SSHA to act immediately.
In addition to opening up Metro Hall, the City is also continuing with its other established emergency precautions enforced during Extreme Cold Weather Alerts including asking shelters to relax service restrictions, immediately adding 26 shelter spaces for men and women, and increasing overnight street outreach in the downtown core.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: City of Toronto, OCAP Toronto