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Warming centre to reopen in Pembroke, Ont. this winter

The warming centre in Pembroke, Ont. consists of a construction trailer dropped in a parking lot. Inside is a long room filled with 25 recliner chairs and a small TV. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa) The warming centre in Pembroke, Ont. consists of a construction trailer dropped in a parking lot. Inside is a long room filled with 25 recliner chairs and a small TV. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa)
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A warming centre for the homeless and those seeking shelter in Pembroke and Renfrew County will reopen this winter.

The warming centre is expected to open December 1 at 156 John Street in Pembroke, within the Ontario Addictions Treatment Centre (OATC) clinic location.

This year, the warming centre will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a five-month period, according to the County of Renfrew. The site will be staffed with addictions and mental health personnel from Mackay Manor.

The warming centre in Pembroke opened for its first winter in December 2023 at the Pembroke Farmers Market site. The county says it decided to move the centre up the street to the OATC because the facility is “already fully engaged with supporting those individuals' experiencing substance use disorder seeking improved health outcomes.”

The previous centre was a converted construction trailer fashioned with recliner chairs, able to accommodate 25 people each night. The Pembroke and Area Task Force says it would see eight to 10 people check in there nightly.

At the OATC site, the county says this new warming centre will offer “integrated washroom facilities, along with amenities such as a kitchenette, cleaning facilities, storage facilities and program space within the warming centre footprint of approximately 232 square metres.”

The county is helping fund the centre through the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), while the City of Pembroke is contributing $110,000 and the Town of Petawawa and Township of Laurentian Valley are contributing $20,000 each.

The county says those using the centre will need to adhere to a social code and code of conduct.

“It is difficult to estimate the overall demand for a warming centre this season,” says the county, “even though we know the overall number of individuals living rough in tents this past month has diminished greatly.”

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