Some Pembroke residents are without a warm place to stay and The Grind is looking for solutions. There are currently no homeless shelters in the area.
One local resident is currently sleeping outside at the Farmers Market on Lake Street in Pembroke. The individual declined to provide his name or be interviewed for a news story. Executive Director at The Grind, Jerry Novack, says they’ve been working with this person for roughly 3-years.
Novack says The Grind is currently working with two homeless people in the Pembroke area. He adds they’re actively looking for solutions and trying to identify warming or comfort stations to get them out of the cold.
Novack says ultimately it comes down to funding and he encourages anyone in the community who has a location not being used to reach out to The Grind to start a conversation.
Novack says they can put people up in hotels or motels for a couple of nights as part of the after-hour shelter services program. The Executive Director at The Grind also talked about the Transition House in Pembroke. The Transition House welcomed their first clients in May of 2020 and provides a warm bed and safe shelter for up to three months. The three-story home in downtown Pembroke, features three client bedrooms plus one crisis suite, as well as a full kitchen, dining and living areas. A second, larger suite is equipped with a kitchenette and washroom.
Novack says the Transition House is currently at capacity.
The Grind previously operated a three-bedroom “Emergency Refuge” in the back of the Coffee House on Pembroke Street West. In September of 2018, the facility was closed due to high labour costs and no sustainable funding from government homelessness programs. In 2017 and 2018 the Grind Shelter Services provided accommodations for 157 homeless adults, for a total of 288 nights of accommodation. In 2019, emergency accommodations were provided for 35 homeless clients.
The old Pembroke Fire Hall on Victoria Street will be used for administration, client services and the community kitchen offered by The Grind. Novack says a potential shelter would have to be off-site at another location.
The Executive Director at The Grind says the after-hours shelter services has been extremely busy, but the most part they’re able to assist with short-term motel or hotel stays. He adds there’s some chronic cases where people are on the street and require more agency support and assistance. Novack says they are out daily checking on the homeless population, providing food and seeing how they can support them, but adds some do not welcome assistance. He adds sometimes individuals make a decision that they want to remain in their current situation, so The Grind and partners will continue to provide support to make sure if the individuals want to make a change, they are able to assist.
Novack says they are looking for information and solutions on how to bring short-term accommodations or shelter services to Pembroke.
He says the community can help by letting The Grind know of anyone who is homeless, or about to be homeless, so they can look at providing supports. Financial donations to The Grind are also accepted anytime or you can take part in local fundraisers such as “Coldest Night of the Year”.
The Grind can be contacted by phone at (613) 732-9423, the emergency after hours phone number is (613)-401-4890, or you can email thegrindpembroke@gmail.com.
PHOTO OF THE TRANSITION HOUSE IN PEMBROKE:
