THUNDER BAY — Street-involved residents looking for relief from sweltering temperatures in the south end, will soon have a new space to cool down in.
The cooling centre is just one of the services offered by PACE. The local not-for-profit social services and recovery support centre has officially started the move into their new building.
“These people that come to PACE rely on us,” executive director Georgina McKinnon said.
“We are their home for the homeless. I never closed the doors on my children and I won't close the doors on my clients.”
PACE, which stands for People Advocating for Change through Empowerment, currently operates community outreach services in the city at 510 Victoria Ave, seven days a week.
McKinnon said the new location on 409 George St will continue to offer existing services with additional accessibility features such as shower and laundry facilities, telephone and computer access and educational and social programming.
“It is going to be a good move,” she said. “It has got a lot of positives and benefits for the clients.”
“We have got accessible facilities now, so accessible washrooms, showers, (and) all our laundry machines are right there in the open now.”
The new building will additionally allow for the development of 12 supportive transitional housing apartments, she said.
“It also comes with 12 apartments, so we will be also helping with the recovery housing,” she said. “So, it is going to be a good move.”
“There's a lot more room for one, we have got about the same square footage floor space wise but less offices. So, more room for the clients,” she said.
The new location will also house additional resources as a part of PACE’s role in Thunder Bay’s Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub. Including a nurse practitioner, counsellors and an individual dedicated to assisting community members with accessing social services, she said.
McKinnon said once the two-week long move is completed and all services and possessions are moved over to the George Street location, the Victoria avenue centre will be closed for good.
“So, what we are doing is this week we are moving the majority of the stuff, but we are going to keep operating out of Victoria Avenue until the end of the month. And then, come August 1 we are opening at 409 George Street with all the services.”
McKinnon said, once PACE is settled and renovations in the new building are completed, they have a goal of expanding and collaborating with other local service providers.
“I personally believe (that) not one person can do it all, and we cannot all be good at everything so if we take all of our specialty agencies and we work together, that benefits the clients,” she said.
“I cannot even express how much that if everything is there, they don't have to go looking and they are not getting a lesser quality (service) because we have the people that specialize as partners now,” she said.
PACE will continue to accept donations and offer seasonal warming and cooling centre access year round at the new location, she said.
