The Thompson Homeless Shelter (THS) hopes to move to a different location one day but nothing is imminent, says THS and Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) of Thompson executive director Paullette Simkins.
Simkins was prompted to speak out about this issue after Mayor Colleen Smook made reference to a new facility while speaking on 102.9 CHTM’s City Beat last week, creating confusion amongst some community members.
Smook, speaking about a letter that city council received from the deputy minister of families Jay Rodgers with regards to funding for StreetReach North and Main Street North, said that the latter was something that the city has been lobbying the provincial government about.
“It’s something that would basically move the homeless shelter,” Smook said. “It would encompass a more all-programming segment for the folks that need them and that so it’s really important. Keep your eye out for an announcement in the future,”
Soon after, Simkins was getting calls from Winnipeg asking what was going on and dealing with rumours that the homeless shelter was moving because she was resigning, which isn’t true.
“I don’t want community members to be confused,” Simkins said.
As head of THS for more than a decade now, Simkins says that a great deal of planning must be done before the facility moves to ensure that it remains stable. Any decision to move will be made by the THS and the CMHA in consultation with the community and funding agencies, which include the provincial and federal governments as well as the City of Thompson.
“Nobody else can dictate where it’s going,” she says, pointing out that THS owns the building that houses it outright.
In contrast to when she became the shelter’s executive director, Simkins says that employee retention is high, there isn’t a lot of turnover, and funding is steady and predictable. About $141,000 of that funding comes from the federal government’s homeless partnering strategy and covers the salaries of four full-time and two full-time employees. Another $250,000 or so comes from the provincial government. The City of Thompson contributed $20,000 this budget year, which is allocated towards annual food costs, which run about $24,000.
Another difference since she took over is that the shelter is rarely at capacity any more, thanks to the transition to the Project Northern Doorway housing first model, which finds places for people to stay, whether in the 95 Cree Rd. “damp house” facility or in apartments around town.
“We’ve already housed 33 individuals so what we’re doing is working,” Simkins says. “We’re doing great work.”
As for what kinds of changes the homeless shelter will go through in the future, Simkins recently submitted a proposal to the federal government’s homelessness strategy – which intends to reduce the number of homeless people across the country by half in the next 10 years – to create a business plan to establish a multipurpose shelter, housing and support facility.
“You can’t take a shelter and decide to move it and open up in some other place,” Simkins says. “That takes time.”
A big prerequisite to any kind of move would be to find more funding, as the current funding would not be enough to cover the costs of running a bigger or better facility.
“Yes, we want to relocate the shelter,” Simkins says. “Will it happen tomorrow? No.”
