With cold winter nights just around the corner, The Lighthouse is looking to hire several staff members to help operate the Orillia Overnight Warming Centre.
Operated out of the Orillia Community Church on Colborne Street, the warming centre provides space for the city’s vulnerable population on cold winter nights that drop below -10 degrees celsius or hit -10 degrees celsius with windchill.
Last winter, it opened for 50 nights between November and April, with 683 beds used and 122 unique individuals accessing the service over that span.
As winter approaches, Lighthouse officials hope to bring on several staff members to ensure the warming centre can operate properly through the coming months.
“We are having some staffing challenges. We are still hiring … qualified warming centre workers, as well as looking for a supervisor,” said executive director Linda Goodall, adding she’s confident the needed staff will be hired.
“The timeline’s just a little bit slower than we had planned,” said managing director Rosemary Pettersen. “In order to be able to run a program, we have to have people to staff it … it's an absolute requirement for the program, in order to ensure people who are unhoused have a safe place.”
The warming centre needs people “who are qualified to work with the most vulnerable,” Goodall said, mentioning that training with Naloxone, CPR, and de-escalation are beneficial for the role.
“A social service worker would be ideal, or any kind of social work type background,” Goodall said. “Some people have lived experience, and experience working in the sector as well.”
While volunteers can complement the staff, Goodall said it’s important to have the warming centre staffed with qualified workers.
“We definitely have volunteers that work alongside our staff, but we need qualified staff … to make sure and ensure that everybody is safe,” she said. “We have three staff on each time when we have up to 30 individuals, and then we can have the addition of volunteers on top.”
Goodall said the Lighthouse is looking for four to five staff members to help run the warming centre overnight on an as needed basis. Residents interested in applying can find out more on the Lighthouse website.
The warming centre has seen extensive use over the past several years.
Thanks to funding from the City of Orillia and the County of Simcoe, last winter the warming centre was able to lower its threshold for opening to -10 degrees celsius from -15 degrees celsius in years past.
As a result, the warming centre’s usage nearly doubled, with close to 700 beds used, compared to the 2022/2023 winter season when it was open for 30 nights with 345 beds used.
