A hotel is serving as an emergency shelter for local women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks to funding from the County of Simcoe, the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter is accepting women and their children in urgent need of accommodations.
The Lighthouse has already moved the men from the Peter Street facility to a hotel. Starting Monday, it began sending women to another hotel in town. Both are staffed 24/7 by Lighthouse officials.
“We just saw a need and we wanted to fill it,” said Lighthouse executive director Linda Goodall. “We don’t want anyone on the street.”
It’s an unprecedented move in unprecedented times.
“We didn’t think we were going to be opening a women’s shelter until next year, when we have Building Hope (the new shelter and community services hub), but in this crisis, we didn’t want to wait,” Goodall said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 19 men and an unknown number of women at the hotels.
The Green Haven Shelter for Women stopped taking in women on March 23, two days after the City of Orillia declared a state of emergency. Its outreach and community consultation services have continued remotely.
Some of the women seeking shelter there were referred to the Lighthouse, which has a motel voucher program.
“When the pandemic broke, there was an, ‘Oh, my God,’ reaction,” said Green Haven executive director Liz Westcott. “We had women and families in here at the time and we were worried about exposure.”
However, the shelter is getting ready to reopen and is inviting women in need to call 705-327-7319.
Green Haven has 14 beds and 10 rooms. It will only take in 10 people during the pandemic to ensure physical distancing. That’s why the emergency shelter is welcome news, said Westcott.
“In light of our current circumstance, good on them.”
Self-isolating and staying home can be difficult for vulnerable populations, including women who experience abuse.
“Because women have been isolated as a tactic of power and control, that is absolutely traumatizing for many women,” Westcott said. “For at least 30 per cent of them, home is the least safe place.”
What the demand for the emergency shelter will look like is “hard to predict,” Goodall said.
“It hasn’t happened before in Orillia, but we have seen the need at the Lighthouse through our community meal and sandwich programs,” she said, noting women and their kids show up for those services.
She praised her staff and volunteers for working to ensure the city’s vulnerable residents are taken care of during the pandemic.
“They are amazing. They’re risking their health and safety every day to show up,” she said. “They are front-line workers. They are heroes in our community.”
The Lighthouse is accepting financial donations, which can be made via its website. Any local businesses or individuals wanting to donate food can call operations manager Trish Holloway at 705-329-2265, ext. 101.
Intake for the emergency shelter is happening at the Lighthouse office, 48 Peter St. S., from Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., or by phone at 705-329-2265. There is no public access inside the shelter, but there is an intercom at the door.
