NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF TIMMINS
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The City of Timmins has issued an extreme cold weather alert for the night of Jan. 11, 2019, triggering additional services for homeless people. With temperatures reaching as low as -28C and a wind chill of -37C this week, the city is advising the homeless to seek shelter.
Starting immediately the Timmins Native Friendship Centre at 179 Kirby Avenue will open its doors in the evenings after 5:30 p.m. to serve as a warming shelter in the event of a cold weather alert. Living Space is playing an important role in bringing services to people but is challenged by some physical constraints that do not allow it to effectively act as a warming shelter during cold weather periods. As such, its staff and services will be shifted over to the Timmins Native Friendship Centre on nights of cold weather alerts.
“The City of Timmins has called an extreme cold weather alert to make vulnerable homeless people in Timmins aware of the dangers of staying outside too long in cold weather, and to ensure they have a safe and warm place to go,” said Mayor George Pirie.
Going forward, the Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Timmins will call an alert when Environment Canada predicts overnight temperatures of -27C or lower with or without windchill, based on warnings from Health Canada of imminent risk of health at that temperature.
Alerts will be issued in the morning before an extremely cold night so community agencies have time to call in extra staff to provide additional services.
“As a result of the growing level of street homelessness, the City of Timmins has been working with community partners including the Timmins Native Friendship Centre, Living Space, the Cochrane DSSAB and Timmins Police Services to develop a strategy to deal with extreme cold weather,” added Mayor Pirie. “We commend our partners for this interim strategy while we work towards more permanent solutions related to warming spaces and homelessness.”
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