COVID-19 putting Shepherds of Good Hope’s homelessness crisis plans on hold

When the City of Ottawa declared a homelessness crisis in the city in January, plans were underway with projects. But since COVID-19 has firmly placed itself in the Ottawa community, many of those plans have been put on hold, the Shepherds of Good Hope says. 

Among those projects are the shelter’s new supportive housing program, which is currently under construction. However, with the new provincial orders that had come out Friday with further slashing to construction services, Shepherds has had to revisit it. This, the shelter says, could slow things down.

“If (our projects) do have to close down — obviously we need to keep everyone safe — but it does slow down when we might be able to open,” Caroline Cox, senior manager of communications and community and volunteer services, said. “There’s a number of other projects we have on the go as well. We are moving our supervised consumption trailer indoors — that would be another project that would be slowed down. Keeping everybody safe is important and that’s the top priority, but it definitely doesn’t help when we’re in a crisis situation.”

The pandemic has also changed how the shelter is operating day-to-day, “dramatically,” Cox said. 

Staff have had to get creative with they get information out to users of the shelter. Many who use the shelter, Cox says, don't have regular access to the internet and therefore are unable to get regular updates on the pandemic. So keeping their clients informed with the most up-to-date information has been among their priorities.

However, the shelter has had to cut back on volunteers (only sticking to volunteers helping with meals are able to stay), recreational programs and family visits in order to limit foot traffic within the building. 

With shelters already being at capacity even before the pandemic, finding ways to further space people out have been among the list of challenges, Cox points out.

“When we’re over-crowded to begin with, and then we’re being told to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to put distance between people… We needed to get a second space quickly. It’s still more crowded than what we’d want it to be, so we’re still looking to other measures we can put in place,” Cox explained.

And while the Shepherds hasn’t seen an increase in people sleeping at the shelter, they have seen more people utilizing their soup kitchen — a service the shelter has had to move outside under tents with picnic tables so everyone can practice safe physical distancing. 

Cleaning services have also been ramped up and a protocol has been put in place to screen people as they come to the shelter. 

Under the direction of the Ontario government, visitors are asked a series of questions that will determine if they can or cannot enter the building. 

Despite the measures, however, Cox says there have been instances where people have had to be turned away. 

“There have been some situations where it’s not wise for us to accept someone — perhaps there’s a risk of exposure, or that sort of thing. I would say we are being more careful, as we should be, about who we are accepting into the shelter. Bringing in a new person into that space is definitely a concern right now.”

The needs for the shelter, Cox says, are changing rapidly. 

A key concern for staff continues to be the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). Cox explains that staff often have close contact with individuals, like helping some onto their wheelchair. So anyone who is able to sew masks and gowns is welcome to donate them to the shelter, Cox stresses. 

The shelter is also in need of volunteers fo their breakfast shift, which takes place between 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. 

Lastly, Shepherds is hiring for their cleaning department and social services to address the demands of the shelter during COVID-19. 

Anyone interested in helping can contact the shelter and follow the Shepherds of Good Hope on social media at @sghottawa.