Shelter House SOS staff receive 'warm welcome' as they get back into the community

Shelter House's Street Outreach Services (SOS) program in Thunder Bay is back up and running again for the winter season after being suspended earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizers of the outreach program put their van back on the road Monday, and have implemented a number of protocols to keep both staff and clients safe from spreading COVID-19.

"So there's a lot of new procedures put in place that might slow the service down a little bit as far as transports go. That's OK. As long as we're out there," Shelter House executive director Michelle Jordan.

The SOS van is on the road from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, offering services and support to high-risk and vulnerable people within the city of Thunder Bay.

"It's been a long road of people calling and asking when the service is coming back, so it's definitely still needed in the community," said Jordan "I think they've gotten quite the warm welcome from the clients. People are really happy to see them."

Staff from the program answer calls from individuals, businesses and emergency service providers who want help transporting people to a safer or warmer location.

New protocols in place 

The program is utilizing a new van this season, which was donated to Shelter House back in September. The program's old vehicle is currently being used for triage and transportation operations at an isolation overflow shelter.

"We did learn a lot of things about protecting people and protecting services … with the work that we've been doing for COVID-19. So we figured, it's a lot safer for us to put the van back on the road," explained Jordan.

Plexiglass between the driver and the client, personal protective equipment, only transporting one client at a time and cleaning the van after each transport are all new procedures put in place by the outreach program.

Jordan said getting necessary measures in place and having the van back on the road is important for staff as they try to better understand the needs of the community.

She said social gaps became clear during the first COVID-19 lockdown back in March, and as case numbers continue to rise in the city new issues might be presented.

"We're gonna see what types of needs are out there. How many people are actually sleeping outside those types of things, where we didn't have that gauge for the last few months because we didn't have our outreach teams out there," she said.

Jordan said the SOS staff are expecting a different season, and are expecting less calls from businesses and more calls for transportation between shelters in the city.