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Operation Sharing Now Offering 24/7 Shelter Model

Tuesday, 13 December 2022 11:09

By Marcie Culbert

The Inn offers overnight shelter out of Old St. Paul's Church, while the Operation Hope Day Space Area offers daytime shelter at College Ave Church.

WOODSTOCK - Operation Sharing is now offering a 24/7 shelter model.

The Inn provides overnight shelter out of Old St. Paul's Church in Woodstock, and it was announced earlier this year that it would switch to a 24/7 operation.

Executive Director Shawn Shapton says it has been a busy year.

"When Oxford County Council first announced at the end of January that they were going to support the 24/7 shelter model, what happened was we had to decide whether to do everything at The INN, but unfortunately space wasn't available at that location. So we made the decision to move it to College Ave Church where the daytime shelter is now."

The Operation Hope Day Space Area officially opened at College Ave Church from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mondays to Fridays in April. The program was expanded to include weekends in October.

Shapton says the daytime lounge area was a $70,000 renovation, which would not have been possible without the $210,000 that was raised through the 2022 Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser.

"In that space we provide food, TV, free WiFi, and couches where people can come in. But the biggest piece that we have done is we have put staff in place. We have an addictions councillor on hand named Candace and we have Lisa who is there every day. We have wrapped ourselves with community supports."

Representatives from CMHA, the Oxford County Community Health Centre, and Oxford County Human Services are also on site.

You can find more information regarding Operation Sharing and the other programming it offers online here.

Shawn Shapton stopped by the Heart FM studio this morning to chat with Dan and Marcie. You can listen to the full interview below.

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