Friday was moving day for the male clients of the Lighthouse shelter in Orillia.
The move brought tears to the eyes of Stonegate Inn employees, who have built relationships over the past seven months with the male clients of the program who have been living there as part of the County of Simcoe’s COVID-19 strategy to house people experiencing homelessness in hotels.
“A lot of these men, we had a lot of personal talks with them about their lives and their experiences," said Dane Adahan, manager at Stonegate Inn. "We gained (an understanding) of what people actually go through.
"Not everyone’s life is as easy as it seems. Sometimes people are put in predicaments they can’t control, but they’re still trying to make a better life for themselves,” he said.
Adaham said that initially he had only planned to host the program for a month, but the timeline was extended as the pandemic wore on. He said the men staying at the hotel regularly offered to help take out garbage and do cleaning around the hotel, adding that his own perceptions of people experiencing homelessness have changed as a result of the experience.
“They are an amazing group of men and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. They had courtesy for us and other guests. They were good to us. We are grateful we had them here. We feel it was a blessing in disguise for both parties. We’re going to miss them a lot,” he said.
“We wanted to thank them for everything they’ve done. It’s not just the experience at the hotel, but the experiences they shared with us; it hits home and we wish them all the best,” said Adaham.
Typically, while the hotels and motels that have opened their doors to the homeless across Simcoe County during the pandemic have not been named publicly to protect the privacy of guests, Linda Goodall, executive director of The Lighthouse Shelter, said she felt it necessary to acknowledge the community support Stonegate has given to men experiencing homelessness now that they’re moving out.
“We’ve had a phenomenal experience for the past seven months at the Stonegate Inn,” said Goodall.
Back in March when Goodall was looking for hotel space to house the shelter guests after COVID-19 hit, she says Stonegate officials stepped up immediately.
“We didn’t even know at that time if we were going to be there for a month, three months, we had no idea,” said Goodall. “They were willing to open up their hotel to us. We took the whole third floor.
“It’s gone so well. There can be some fear about hosting a homeless shelter at a hotel, but I think we’ve been able to break down some of that stigma because it has been a great experience. We couldn’t have done this without them,” she said.
The Lighthouse building on Peter Street is a 14-bed men's shelter for ages 16 and up. Since COVID-19 hit, that building has been closed because physical distancing was impossible and those requiring shelter were moved into hotels. As a result, the capacity for men increased to 25 guests.
The organization also opened an emergency women's shelter – in a different hotel – with 16 beds for females ages 16 and up.
The male guests will now be moving to the same hotel housing the female guests, which Goodall says will help streamline operations.
“That will help with our staff and food delivery. We’re hoping to also be able to open up more space for the winter for isolation rooms,” she said.
One of the challenges all shelters are facing is any person released from a hospital or incarceration must be isolated for 14 days according to public health advice. With some discharges coming directly to area shelters, those accommodations need to be made at the hotels.
“We needed more space to be able to do that,” she said. “We will be able to have more capacity once we’re established there as well.”
Over the past seven months, about 341 clients have been served through the shelter and the motel voucher program.
As part of that number, 144 men were served through Stonegate Inn. Of the 144 men, 42 were able to be placed in housing.
Overall, Lighthouse staff have been able to house 106 people over the past seven months, which Goodall says is incredible considering the circumstances.
“Even with no housing being available ... people are still able to get housed,” she said.
The shelter is currently starting winter planning in consultation with local agencies. Goodall also said the capital campaign for the Building Hope project is still ongoing, with an estimated opening date of April 2021.
“The capital campaign had slowed down, but it hasn’t stopped,” she said. “We went from 14 beds for men, to 42 people every night. If anybody wondered, why are you building a bigger facility for people experiencing homelessness? We’re now able to say, this is why. We didn’t close our doors. We opened them wide.”
