Places available for shelter and support
There are places to go, if you have nowhere to be every day. A number of different organizations in Fort Frances are open for those looking for daily care and support.
“They come from all over,” said Monica Sus, care worker at the Fort Frances Family Centre. “When we started, we had no idea that it existed.”
The Family Centre is a place where people can go when they have nowhere safe and warm to be during the day. Monica Sus is one of the workers who takes care of several clients every day who need more care than they can provide for themselves.
“Most of the people that come here, they're from the area,” said Sus.
Traci Lockman, care worker, said the Family Centre accommodates anywhere from 30 to 40 people a day. She said most people seeking help are homeless. She said they have nowhere to go and some of them end up looking for help and services at the Family Centre.
“It’s like a soup kitchen drop-in centre,” said Lockman. “We have couches and TV.”
Sus said that stigma in the community prevents people who have a criminal record or a mental disorder from finding a job. Lockman said clients of the Family Centre can drop in and sleep all day if they wish, but they must go elsewhere at night.
“We deal with a lot of mental illness and a lot of people who are in and out of jail,” said Sus. “They really can’t work; you have to look at them for what they are.”
The Peer Support Drop-In Centre is run weekdays by the Canadian Mental Health Association and their website says they offer a wide range of social, recreational, and educational activities. The United Native Friendship Centre has a drop-in centre that provides a place to go on weekdays where people can have breakfast and get some support.
Sus said that several tents can be found at Point Park because there are no places for people to stay in Fort Frances. She said sleeping in tents with all the rain we have had is not a solution to the homeless problem.
Sus said that winter shelters aren’t open long enough during wintertime or that there is a delay between the start of winter and the opening of a shelter. She said that our winters are long and that shelters are only open for winter related emergencies.
“You have to have a facility that is open 365 days,” said Sus.
Sus said that despite not having the best facilities to operate in, some people get stuck in Fort Frances due to some misadventure while travelling across the country.
“If you listen to stories of other shelters, you'll always hear of somebody who was travelling across Canada,” said Sus. “They ran out of money, and they stay like in Winnipeg or whatever.”
Louis Bergeron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times
