Barrie shelters prepare for frigid weather
As the City of Barrie prepares for extreme cold to move through the area later this week, local shelters are working on expanding space for those in need.
"People are needing to get inside. It's really, really cold outside and people who are unfortunately without housing need somewhere safe to be," said Sara Peddle, Busby Centre executive director.
According to Peddle, the temporary shelter at 20 Rose Street accommodates roughly 50 individuals each night. However, due to the frigid temperatures, hours will be extended for daytime service.
"People are getting frostbite, they're getting trench foot, and they are getting all these health effects coming from the effects of the cold. We want to make sure that's not happening," Peddle said.
With visitors assigned a designated room and access to a warm meal, the shelter is one of a few spaces aiming to protect the city's most vulnerable.
According to the Busby Centre, just over 200 people live without housing within Barrie. As the extreme cold moves in over the following few days, organizations say staying warm will mean life or death.
"People will die. It's very cold out. I don't like going out when it's just zero degrees, so to sleep outside ... that's ridiculous. It's not safe," said Hayley Murdoch-Fyke, John Howard Society of Simcoe Muskoka executive director.
At the John Howard Society, a warming space is also hoping to fill that need, the organization reporting that it is seeing dozens of people using the service daily.
"It's a place where they can sit, breath and eat and figure out what their next step is," Hayley Murdoch-Fyke said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.