A new warming center delayed by staff shortages goes live in Kingston this weekend, located in the old Odd Fellows Hall on Concessions Street.
The opening of this center fills a void for a warming center in downtown Kingston, almost two years after the anticipated closure of a center located in Wellington due to concerns and uncertainties about COVID-19.
The building is owned by Patry companies and will be leased by Lionhearts Inc. with financial assistance from United Way KFL & A and the City of Kingston.
The Warming and Drop-In Center was initially announced on December 13, with the goal of being open as of December 27, but has not been able to be fully operational due to staffing issues in the past two weeks.
Last year, Lionhearts partnered with Kingston Street Mission to provide meals outside of Stages, which has yet to reopen to the public since the pandemic began.
Lionhearts CEO Travis Blackmore says the dining program will function much the same as what was seen at Stages last year, once again partnering with Kingston Street Mission.
The space will act as a warm-up space until 11:30, with meals available seven days a week from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
At the warming center, people can get winter clothes, hygiene kits and other items collected thanks to donations from the community.
The space will also house part of the community overnight, and that part will be operated by Home Base Housing.
Lionhearts serves 120 to 140 meals a day with the evening program, and one of the programs that helps them provide these meals is Food Rescue, which works to collect and sort food destined for trash at local restaurants and supermarkets.
Blackmore says that while the membership roster and the amount of food donated has grown in that regard, the organization hopes to further connect with contributors.
He says businesses should know that Lionhearts makes donating food waste an easy process.
“There is an infrastructure for us to pick them up or some places have the availability to bring them to us,” said Blackmore.
“Every time you make a donation to a food recovery charity, they take responsibility for ranking what is inedible versus what is edible.”
Blackmore says the charity also distributes some food that doesn’t meet human quality needs to local farmers.
The heating center has a capacity of 35 and can host up to 19 overnight.
Reference-ygknews.ca