Stratford council unanimously approves new warming centre

Downtown Stratford is pictured on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018.

People living in precarious situations will have a new place to warm up through the winter in Stratford.

On Monday, Stratford City Council unanimously approved a motion to set up a warming centre at the Connection Centre in St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Duro Street.

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Huron Perth will be operating the centre.

Through the winter months, it will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m.

Although no beds will be provided, there will be resting spaces with tables and refreshments. Hot meals will be available through community meal programs that are already running.

During the overnight hours, two social service workers from CMHA Huron Perth and a private security guard will be on site.

The warming centre will receive $350,000 in funding, sourced from a recent HST audit and the city’s Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve, to operate in 2025 and 2026.

In a news release, the city said it is also launching a campaign, tentatively called Not One More Night, to try to recruit volunteers and raise additional money for the project.

The new program will run in conjunction with existing emergency accommodation initiatives run by the City of Stratford Social Services department.