COVID-19: City of Hamilton to open homeless shelter in downtown arena

The 50-bed ‘surge’ shelter in FirstOntario Centre is needed to relieve pressure on existing shelters that cannot keep individuals safe and separate in close quarters during the pandemic.

Yorkregion.com
April 9, 2020
Matthew Van Dongen

The city will turn the FirstOntario Centre arena into a “surge” homeless shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emergency Operations Centre director Paul Johnson announced during a virtual town hall Wednesday that 50 cots will be added to the former Copps Coliseum downtown over the Easter weekend.

Johnson said existing shelters “simply don’t have the space” in many cases to enforce physical distancing of at least two metres --a public health measure considered critical to preventing the spread of coronavirus. Up to 400 people use Hamilton shelters on any given cold night.

Hamilton’s three cramped men’s shelters are busy --and therefore “very susceptible to outbreaks” at the moment, he said. (So far, only one person is staying in a rec centre set aside to allow infected homeless residents to self-isolate.)

By contrast, Johnson said the “cavernous” arena --it seats 19,000 and has 17,000 square feet of space on the “rink” floor alone --will allow shelter workers from the Good Shepherd Centre to “maximize physical distancing.” The arena has built-in washrooms and laundry and the city is working with Wesley Urban Ministries on food availability.

In turn, the extra beds will help reduce the number of men staying in other shelters. Johnson said public health experts are working on an acceptable “cap” for overnight stays in each shelter during the pandemic.

For now, the arena shelter will be for men only. Johnson said the city is putting up more women and families in hotels --around 46 people in total --and has extended funding for seasonal women’s shelters.

Inner-city doctor Jill Wiwcharuk said the move will help “decrease the risk” for both homeless residents and shelter workers.

“I think in an ideal world, every person would have a room to themselves in this (pandemic) situation,” said Wiwcharuk, a member of the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team that does outreach to residents dealing with poverty, homelessness and addiction.

“But in some cities this is just not going to be an option. So if it is not possible, increasing the opportunities for people to physically distance themselves is a smart way of dealing with a very difficult situation.”

Johnson acknowledged calls for “apartment-style” separation for vulnerable residents, but noted safe staffing levels are also a challenge for the city and many other agencies.

Regardless, he said the pandemic challenge of keeping people safely separated will force city planners in future to think “long and hard” about the sustainability of close-quarters living in shelters, residential care and long-term care facilities.