City reopens respite centre for homeless in Hintonburg

The city has reopened a temporary overnight shelter in Hintonburg for people experiencing homelessness amid increased demand for community shelters.

The physical distancing centre at Tom Brown Arena will offer 70 beds during the evening and offer respite services during the day, according to a city memo.

The centre first opened last winter and has been continuously operating as a respite centre during the day for people who need it.

The memo said it’s being reopened temporarily as a shelter “given the current situation, where community shelters are in outbreak status, and to help address various challenges.”

The surging Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the arrival of cold weather has led to increased demand for shelter space in Ottawa. Staffing limitations are exacerbating the problem.

The city says shelters are continuing to accept new referrals to bed, and positive COVID-19 cases will be monitored “in place” due to the high transmission rate.

Cases that need more medical attention will be referred to the Routhier Isolation Centre in Lowertown.

Ottawa Public Health estimates about 80 per cent of the city's population experiencinghomelessness is vaccinated, but this number fluctuates as people come in and out of homelessness.

The physical distancing centre for men at 75 Nicholas Street remains open. And the city is still operating the Dempsey Community Centre on Russell Road as a temporary physical distancing centre for women.

The Heron Road physical distancing centre for women, run by Cornerstone Housing for Women, is moving back to its O’Connor Street this month following renovations. 

The Centretown shelter was closed for 13 months due to the construction. In December 2020, Cornerstone moved to the Friel Physical Distancing Centre, a University of Ottawa residence.

In June 2021, it then moved to its location on Alta Vista.