Open, when the world was closed

When COVID-19 closed public spaces vital for local residents experiencing homelessness, United Way funding tripled services to help Inn Out of the Cold meet the growing need

The man was a former guest of Inn Out of the Cold.

He stayed at the St. Thomas shelter for a short time last summer and now he was back with good news.

“I not only have housing, but I have a job,” he said during a recent visit to the organization.

“And thank you.”

Lori Fitzgerald has heard heartwarming stories like his before, in her role as executive director of Inn Out of the Cold.

But in this case, the timing is important.

The man got help because the shelter was open to him during a pandemic – when everything else was closed. Open all spring and summer for the first time in its 10-year history, Inn Out of the Cold gave him refuge at a time he needed it most.

And that was made possible because of support from United Way Elgin Middlesex, which provided funds to help keep the shelter open all year and hire staff needed to run daytime services as well.

“United Way really is part of the backbone of our services,” says Fitzgerald. “They do provide a much longer-term relational kind of approach to funding than many others, so they’re very invested in our overall success of our guests and our program.”

Already a United Way funded agency, the Inn got a boost from the Federal government’s Emergency Community Support Fund, which was administered locally by United Way Elgin Middlesex. The organization used the money to triple staff and services to help community members who were struggling in circumstances triggered by COVID-19.

On average, 15 people stay at the emergency shelter each night and between 20 and 50 people visit the downtown drop-in centre every day, says Fitzgerald. Guests include people experiencing poverty and mental health and addiction issues who used to take a break from outside weather conditions at a library or arena or fast food restaurant.

When those places closed during a province-wide shut down this past spring to prevent COVID-19 spread, people who had nowhere to go during the day were stuck outside.

“It became visible very, very quickly,” says Fitzgerald. “It’s been a challenge, but it’s been great to be able to be able to step in to meet those needs. The only way we’re able to do that is with community support.”

Because Inn Out of The Cold already provided emergency shelter, food and basic needs through fall and winter months, St. Thomas officials asked the organization to operate the new daytime drop in. Funding from United Way helped hire a program manager and extra staff who help provide food and basic needs, and support for housing and work applications – while following physical distancing guidelines.

While many of the 120 volunteers have not been able to work during COVID-19 because of age or health conditions, those who can have more than doubled their pre-pandemic hours.

“Inn Out of the Cold really is supported in every way by our community. Usually if we say on Facebook that we need a pair of men’s pants, eight hours later, we’ve got four pairs of men’s pants. If we need a new cot . . . we have a new cot – or two new cots or three – by the end of that shift,” says Fitzgerald.

“I think COVID has proven to us all as a community that we can pull together and get through a crisis.”

Somebody in their corner again

Young people drop in for a can of soup and get the support they need at Strathroy’s Next Wave Youth Centre

When the lights finally came back on at Strathroy’s Next Wave Youth Centre this summer, it felt like “the world opening up again,” says Skyler Campbell.

The COVID-19 shutdown was tough on Campbell, 20, who receives employment training and other supports at the agency and works in its jam-making facility.

“Being able to be back, it’s relieving because you’ve been unemployed, or you’ve been looking for work since all this stuff has been going down,” he said. “Next Wave brought us back together again.”

Campbell is among 150 young people who access services at Next Wave every year and says the other clients, volunteers and staff have become an important part of his support network. Better yet, they’re his friends.

“It’s like our own little community. Everyone is so nice here and very helpful,” he says. “These guys have been helping me figure things out.”

Meant as a safe space for youth in Middlesex County, Next Wave offers basic needs, housing supports and counselling. It also provides employment experience and training at its social enterprise – Mushed by YOU jam, jellies and spreads.

But for those who access services every year, the support often starts with their basic needs. Many come in because they have heard Next Wave – which is a part of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) – provides emergency food and toiletries. That’s when the conversations begin that could lead to other supports, such as mental health services.

“Being able to be a one-stop place for youth to get those supports makes all the difference,” says Nick Martin, manager of food services and enterprise at YOU.

“Someone coming in for a can of soup and some pasta, that can lead to them getting some employment support . . . addiction support, learning how to budget, finishing their education all in one space. It (gets them) to where they are able to support themselves.”

Funding from United Way Elgin Middlesex helps Next Wave provide food and basic needs to young people age 12-29 from Middlesex County, including Strathroy, Parkhill, Ailsa Craig and Chippewas of the Thames and other surrounding First Nations.

“Without the support of the United Way, Next Wave wouldn’t exist,” says Martin. “United Way’s support was very vital for our operations (before) and after COVID.”

Since the pandemic, Next Wave staff has seen a spike in need for items such as grocery gift cards that enable young people to buy produce and other fresh food that can be hard to find at emergency cupboards. In Middlesex County, where social services are few and far between to begin with, COVID-19 shutdowns have made finding other sources of affordable food almost impossible for youth in the area who don’t have transportation to get to the nearest city centre, he says.

“We see more people need that support and the youth that we were seeing before are just needing so much more,” he says.

Not that they ever stopped. Like other organizations supported by United Way, Next Wave pivoted services online when COVID-19 forced it to close its doors. During those months, staff did their best to stay connected, even continuing to operate the basic needs shelf for clients who called in a food crisis. But it wasn’t the same.

“It was so impersonal,” says employee Kaitlyn Harvey, recalling how she would leave a bag of food outside the building, to minimize contact. “Most of the time when someone comes in for basic needs, they need to talk about something – they need some emotional support.”

Reopening made a “huge difference,” says Harvey. “For our youth, it definitely helps them feel connected to their community and have somebody in their corner. They can come here and have somebody advocate for them when it’s really difficult to advocate for themselves.”

“I know a lot of our youth are really happy to be back.”

‘It gives you wings’

When a busy neighbourhood centre had to close as part of London’s COVID-19 response strategy, many White Oaks residents were cut off from food and other basic needs. United Way funding helped bring the Emergency Food Cupboard back when the community needed it more than ever.

Times were already tough.

Before COVID-19, the emergency food cupboard at South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre served about 100 people a month.

Now, it’s 1,000.

“So many individuals are coming to us for the first time. People who were already facing barriers — poverty, hunger, mental illness, and social isolation — need even more help now,” says Nancy Needham, executive director of the South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre (SLNRC).

“You’ve heard over the years that many people are one pay cheque away from losing their home. COVID has made that real.”

Among the new visitors staff have welcomed parents with no money for groceries as they waited for government support and couples who both lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Many seemed almost “panicked,” by the time they arrived at the food cupboard, but still reluctant to ask for help.

They’d donated to food banks in the past but said they had never imagined they’d need to use one.

“If United Way didn’t fund a neighborhood resource centre, those new faces . . .  they would be the ones that I would be most concerned about,” says Needham. “Food and basic needs are really a major problem in London.”

Just how vital the emergency food cupboard is to the South London community became painfully clear early in the pandemic when the City closed many of its buildings, including the SLNRC on Jalna Boulevard, and the organization had to move the food cupboard 14-kilometres away to the Northwest London Resource Centre in order to keep it open.

“It was really quite devastating,” Needham said. “People were saying things like “I don’t know what I’m going to do with my family.”

Then a grant from the Local Love in a Global Crisis community response fund organized by United Way Elgin Middlesex helped SLNRC move the service back to the neighbourhood. Since May 5, the emergency food cupboard has been operating out of St. Justin’s Parish on Jalna Blvd.

Staff instantly noticed the spike in demand. One four-day week after a long weekend, the cupboard served 198 people. With 10 times the number of people coming in, food donations from neighbourhood faith groups were no longer enough. Again, the United Way stepped in, facilitating a partnership with the London Food Bank, which now regularly supplies the cupboard with food.

“It makes me so happy to know that there are resources like this available,” one mom said during a recent visit. “Not just for me, for everybody. There’s a lot of people who struggle.”

She feels grateful to donors for the way her children’s faces light up when she brings home food from the emergency cupboard.

“As a parent, seeing that happiness in your kids. . .It gives you wings,” adds the mom, who also volunteers at SLNRC to “give back,” to the community.

The SLNRC, a United Way partner agency, has long been a hub of the White Oaks community. It’s fueled by volunteers — many of them former clients — and aside from the emergency food cupboard, it hosts a settlement agency, youth groups, community meals and classes on language, cooking, and parenting.

When its building closed temporarily in March, SLNRC moved services online to say connected with clients. But once word spread on social media, the organization reached even more community members who started accessing services for the first time.

“It is a world where so many more people clearly are living on the brink of poverty,” Needham says. “COVID has really brought that to light.”

And that’s a good thing, because it means people who have been struggling in silence now have a connection to emergency food cupboard to help them through hard times, says Needham.

“No matter what your age or your needs . . .If the families don’t have food, we’re in trouble.”