$3 million project will soon be able to house 70 people who have nowhere to call home
HALIFAX, N.S. — A new 50-bed shelter will be opening soon in Halifax.
A temporary emergency shelter will open its doors on Jan. 22 at the Multi-Purpose Centre at the Halifax Forum.
The shelter at the 18,000-square-foot building facing the Young and Windsor streets intersection will be operated by 902 Man Up, which operates several other shelters throughout HRM.
It will operate around the clock, seven days a week until Aug. 31 and will start with 50 beds — 35 for men and 15 for women — but can expand during extreme weather.
In a joint news release, the Nova Scotia government and HRM said the shelter will increase to 70 beds in the “coming weeks” and will offer privacy, showers and storage for those staying there.
The province is paying for the operation, meals and wrap-around services through 902 Man Up. The cost is estimated at about $3 million.
HRM is providing the facility and will install a temporary shower trailer, as well as collect garbage and clear the snow.
Earlier this winter, the former St. Paul Church on Windmill Road in Dartmouth and the former Waverley Inn in Halifax were identified as shelters.
When these are all fully open — including the Halifax Forum site — the total of shelter beds in the municipality will be 355, with 493 shelter beds provincewide.
In a recent interview, Max Chauvin, HRM’s director of housing and homelessness, said there are an estimated 100 people who are sleeping outside right now in HRM.
There are 1,094 people in HRM who identify as actively homeless in HRM as of Jan. 2, according to the by-name list from the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
