As the snow begins to pile up and the temperature drops, the need for homeless shelters is greater than ever. In Huntsville on Saturday the only men’s emergency shelter between Orillia and North Bay opened its doors.
The Table Men’s Shelter offers hot nutritious meals, showers, toiletries, clothes and eight sleeping. The new shelter will also connect those living with mental health issues with professionals who can help.
“A lot of these people will come here because they are in the depths of despair, or because they have symptoms of mental illness, and they’re not able, at the time, to see their way out of that illness,” says Mental Health Professional Marta Mirecki.
Less than one month ago a local homeless man known as ‘JC’ lost his life while seeking a place to stay for the night. Friends say he found a van to stay in, up the street from the shelter. It went up in flames and JC died. The public outcry over his death helped draw attention to the life-saving shelter.
“We were desperately trying to get the shelter open and it’s so sad that it took JC’s death to actually make the final piece happen,” says his friend Heather Berg.
The Table Men’s shelter is open every day from 6pm until 9am.
