The Kenora Emergency Shelter, operated by the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, has secured funding to continue its current hours into 2028.
KENORA — The emergency overnight shelter in Kenora will keep its current hours for at least the next two years.
The Kenora District Services Board and the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association jointly announced the hours that have been in place since November 2024 will remain through April 1, 2028. The 46-bed facility on 2nd Street offers shelter for unhoused and underhoused people from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Prior to the 2024 extension of service, it operated from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., said KDSB chief executive officer Sarah Stevenson. The funding partnership for the 16-hour operating day was set to expire April 1 of this year.
“At its core, (it’s a) warm safe place to get a meal — to be able to stay overnight is critical and especially in the environment that we live in here up in the north,” Stevenson said.
The local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) operates the shelter, which is funded by the KDSB, according to a media release. Stevenson said the services board uses money it gets from provincial homelessness prevention funding from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
The CMHA’s Kenora branch advocated to maintain the necessary funding to keep the extended hours and the services board agreed, Stevenson said.
“We definitely know that there is a need for housing within our region, especially for individuals who are houseless,” the local mental health association’s CEO Sara Dias said in an interview. “We’ve been operating for the last few years under this funding and have demonstrated that need.”
“That was sort of the driving force to ensure that we continue to advocate for that extension of hours.”
Dias said the shelter’s last quarter showed an over-70 per cent occupancy rate.
Ensuring there’s consistent shelter space for people to go during those 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. evening hours, seven days a week, fills an important need, Stevenson said. There are a number of local grassroots organizations and churches that provide similar service at that time — like Kenora Moving Forward’s meals and drop-in hours at St. Alban’s Cathedral — but different spaces are open on different days.
“Those supports are still critical to the community and they provide wonderful supports to individuals,” Stevenson said. “But this allows for a consistent location to be available and open, and all the service providers and all of the individuals who are accessing the services know that this is available.”
Dias said it’s also a crucial time for making connections with people who may benefit from their services.
“That’s the timeframe that you’re … able to actually start conversations with people, when they come through the door,” she said.
“And make connections in order to try to assist people to connect to services or other options of potential housing that we’re aware of that’s in our region, or outside of our region, depending on where people are coming from.”
During the evening and overnight hours, the shelter offers not only escape from the elements but also snacks, warm beverages and toiletries, the organizations’ media release says. During the day (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), the space houses a “clinical service hub,” where the CMHA works with people to connect them to supports, like primary care, mental health and addictions support, housing and other services.
People don’t have to be registered or connected with the overnight shelter to access those daytime services, Stevenson said.
“It’s critical … with regards to trying to work towards addressing homelessness in Kenora,” Stevenson said.
“The wrap-around services and the connection to other service providers within the community are essential to supporting people in more sustainable housing options and maintaining those connections to services.”