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^I'm curious if that's the province or the operators refusing to be open during the day. The province says they provide funding for 24/7 shelter space. Operators are non-committal. We are getting mixed messages and no one wants to find a solution.
These are different services provided in different spaces. Shelter space is different from drop in space. In short, shelters are a place to stay and sleep but not really a space to "Hang Out" during the day.
Most shelter's are a large room or series of rooms with beds/mattresses as a place to sleep and be out of the cold. Shelters will also have some smaller rooms for people to meet with workers to access services. But there is nowhere/limited space to hang out during the day. To access a shelter you usually have to register upon entry because they have a limited number of beds. Some will let you register, leave during the day and as long as you are back by a certain time you can keep your bed. Others are first come first serve and as soon as you leave your bed is given to the next person.
A drop in is a large room/series of rooms with tables and chairs. Food and Coffee will be served at different times. In the past you didn't have to register to enter and the drop in's just kept count of the number of people in there. The Drop-In will have workers/volunteers providing services like system navigation, clothes, food, housing supports, etc. but there was no requirement to be doing anything with those services to be in the space.
Some shelters will have both separately: Herb Jamison being the best example and has separate spaces in their new building for both space. Most other shelters will close the shelter during the day and convert the space into a drop in but in order to do that they must close for several hours to transition and either kick people out still sleeping or kick people out who are awake to let those other people sleep.
The move to 24/7 shelters is because many homeless folks are completed detached from the clock the way you and I are. Until just a few years ago we had no 24/7 shelter so folks who needed sleep at different times than the scheduled intake/kick out where SOL and sleeping/dying on the street. The province is funding some shelters for 24/7 services, and that is a good thing. The operators ARE operating them but they are a place to sleep and stay warm not a place to "hang out" like a drop in.
