Charlottetown Mutual Aid opens overnight warming centre after city council votes not to

After Charlottetown city council voted 7-2 not to open an overnight warming shelter during a closed-door meeting Thursday night, volunteers with Charlottetown Mutual Aid set one up themselves.

The group's overnight warming station at Jack Blanchard Family Centre opened at 6 p.m. Friday night, and will remain open until Saturday at 6 p.m., or later depending on need.

Temperatures are expected to plummet Friday night with wind chill values as low as –40 C.

"The temperatures are going to be so low that it's honestly an immediate threat to the safety of folks who have to be outside," said Joanna Morrison with Charlottetown Mutual Aid.

"So the warming centre is for literally anyone who needs to get warm. It could be somebody who hasn't been able to pay their heat bill, or somebody's power is out or somebody who might be living outside."

Although community members said the city did offer up the space for the overnight warming centre, Charlottetown Mutual Aid was baffled that they were left to organize it themselves.

"We were really surprised as a group the city had decided to not set up a warming centre, same with the province, we weren't sure what was going on. We thought it was a logical thing they should be doing," said Ainz Kendrick.

For people experiencing homelessness, the Park Street emergency shelter will be open regular hours from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday. And the province has arranged for additional beds to be available at MacDonald Bedford House.

But some believe that without the additional overnight warming shelter at the Jack Blanchard Family Centre, some people would have been left out in the cold.

Green Party MLA Hannah Bell called the city council's decision not to set one up "completely unacceptable, incredibly disappointing."

"There is over 100 people going through the [Community] Outreach Centre every day, Park Street [emergency shelter] sleeps 50. There are additional beds, obviously, Bedford Macdonald House and Blooming House, but we really, really have a big gap between the need and what's being provided."

Overnight in Cornwall, Three Rivers, Summerside

In Summerside, an overnight warming centre opened at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Station 1 Fire Hall. 

The Cornwall Christian Church will be open for those who need to get warm from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, with extended hours if the cold weather continues into Saturday night. 

"You can get frostbite in just a few minutes at those temperatures ... all the other shelters that seem to be open are either full or from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the coldest temperatures are overnight," said Travis Jones, a volunteer at Cornwall Christian Church.

"So it just seemed logical to have a place for people to go while the winds are really high and the temperatures are really low."

In Three Rivers, volunteers opened an overnight shelter at the Montague Bible Fellowship Church at 123 Sackville St. at 6 p.m. Friday, with a planned closure time of noon Saturday, or longer depending on need.

Daytime warming centres

The Community Outreach Centre in Charlottetown is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They plan to have extra staff on site, are opening up additional space and will serve hot food.

Murphy's Pharmacies Community Centre at 200 Richmond Street, will also be offering a place to get warm until 8 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Also in Charlottetown, the Salvation Army will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. They will be serving coffee, tea, sweets and muffins.

The province is offering to provide transport to a shelter for any Islander who might need it. Call the shelter line at 1-833-220-4722.