Bancroft’s Mayor says the town has exhausted efforts to try and find a building that could serve as a warming centre this winter, but to no avail.
He said officials didn’t just look at municipal buildings, they explored partnerships with churches and other private building owners – but couldn’t find a place with open drop-in space.
The arena and the town building were used the past two winters, because not much has been happening at those places, due to COVID. But those spaces are being used more now.
“It’s disappointing, but everyone did their best,” he says. “We’ll continue to keep looking.”
We’ve been looking for over a year, so I’m not optimistic (that a venue will be found), but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop.”
Jenkins says the grim news is a reminder of the importance of working on long-term solutions to homelessness.
He said the number of people using the warming centres in Bancroft in past years, has been in the “double digits.”