Philip Quigley, chairman of the Truro Homeless Outreach Society, confirmed there will be something set up for April 1.
"We may not have what we want, but there will be something," he said. "We may end up with a rental process, or carry on at the First United Church. We have funds to provide something."
The society is working to have a permanent homeless shelter, dubbed Hub House, that will be open 24 hours a day. Currently, the Out of the Cold program only operates overnight in the wintertime.
"If we continue at First United, it will only be in the evenings. But come April, however, a daytime shelter might not be as significant."
Having said that, though, Quigley acknowledged both April and May were cold months last year. If, come April 1, the society is operating out of the church, arrangements will be made for a daytime shelter elsewhere.
"The funding is there to have something in place. We hate to use it because it will detract from a permanent shelter, but funding is in place," he said.
When asked if homelessness was increasing or decreasing in the Truro area, Quigley was quick to respond with "both."
"It's decreasing in the sense that we've had some tremendous success in navigating people into a place of their own, and ultimately that's the goal," he said, adding that since the Out of the Cold program began mid-November up until last month, volunteers saw 25 people utilize the shelter.
"I think national statistics speak to that. For every one homeless person we see, there are three we don't see. But I think that as word gets out and around to those without shelter, they begin to learn that there is a place to go. We all have to keep the faith and realize that homelessness is an issue that could face any one of us."
Quigley said many people work on a 30- to 60-day basis and if they were faced with a disaster, they could easily find themselves in a place where they need help.
The society's chairperson said Truro and outlining areas are amazing places when it's time to step up and lend a hand.
"The blessing is in the helping," he said. "There are different people that say, ‘isn't it great to have time to give to someone else.' But the reverse of that is, ‘isn't it great to have time to give to someone else?' It's a blessing to be able to reach out to someone else."
If you had asked Quigley five years ago if homelessness was a problem in Truro, he admits he would have said no.
"It wasn't until I started working with it and became more educated that I realized it's there," he said.
There are a number of upcoming fundraisers planned in support of the society, including this weekend's Choirs for Comfort, which features nine choirs performing at the First United Church beginning at 3 p.m. Admission is a donation at the door.
On Feb. 21 will be the Coldest Night of the Year event, a national event with a local showing starting at 5:15 p.m. and ending at the Truro Farmers' Market.
"There are close to 200 people, 30 teams, registered. This caught on like we didn't expect it to," said Quigley. "There are groups all over the county getting behind this."
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IF YOU GO
WHAT: Choirs for Comfort fundraiser.
WHO: Nine choirs in total - eight from Colchester County (CEC, Cantabile Boys Choir, Cantabile Singers, Truro Youth Singers, First United Church Choir, First Baptist Girls Choir, St. James Male Chorus and St. Andrew's Church Choir) and one from Pictou County (Seinneadair).
WHEN: Feb. 7, 3 p.m.
WHERE: First United Church, Truro.
ADMISSION: freewill donation with money going to Hub House, the year-round, permanent shelter in the works by the Truro Homeless Outreach Society.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Coldest Night of the Year - a two-, five- and 10-kilometre walk fundraiser.
WHO: Various participants and teams from throughout Colchester County.
WHEN: Feb. 21, 5:15 p.m.
WHERE: Starts and ends at the Truro Farmers' Market
TO REGISTER OR DONATE: go online at www.coldestnightoftheyear.org/register, email secretartytrurohomeless.ca or call 902-986-4979.
