Sarnia's shelters are mostly at capacity at the moment.
However, River City Vineyard on Mitton Street currently has a few beds available.
Audrey Kelway, the Building and Shelter Manager for River City, said the shelter is usually full all year round, with or without the winter weather.
"We're mostly full, but we do have seven beds available at the moment," said Kelway on Monday, December 29. "We get a lot of people from the hospital, or from places like Ryan's House. We do get a lot of people from there, and then we just have people that, you know, they're like, we want to be drug-free, we are clean. And we'll just give them that chance to come in."
River City is a drug free shelter that has about 65 spaces available for men and women, and can accommodate people for as long as they need.
"The average, maybe, is six months. But sometimes somebody's going to stay for only a few days. And sometimes, you know, we have people who have been there longer, and they just needed that longer time to recover. It really takes two years to neurologically be better. So we always have that grace," said Kelway.
The Inn of the Good Shepherd runs several shelters for women, men and youth, including the Good Shepherd's Lodge on Confederation Street.
Executive Director Myles Vanni said creating more space is something the Inn is focusing on.
"We've got The Haven, our youth shelter, and the two adult shelters that are pretty well at capacity, and (we're) looking at solutions for that," said Vanni. "The youth numbers have been pretty steady, and in fact, county-wide, as programs and services have grown to support those youth, the actual number of homeless youth has decreased. Where we're seeing the numbers, of course, is in the adults, and (between) both shelters, we have 70 beds between the lodge and the overflow, and they're typically full."
Anyone in need of a bed is welcome to contact both River City and The Inn of the Good Shepherd.
