Nipissing Mental Health Housing and Support Services (NMHHSS) will no longer operate the low-barrier homeless shelter on Chippewa Street beginning May 1.
The service has been in conversations with the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) to discontinue the operation of the shelter for “a few days”.
The announcement comes a day after an NMHHSS employee was stabbed in the back with a syringe at the site, resulting in North Bay police arresting a 46-year-old man.
“The incident which took place at the low-barrier shelter last evening that left one of our employees with serious injuries is extremely disturbing,” stated Mary Davis, CEO of NMHHSS.
A spokesperson for NMHHSS says the incident was not the reason behind the decision to end the operating agreement.
The agency has been running low-barrier shelters around the city over the past year. When the pandemic hit, the YMCA and Pete Palangio Arena were both used as low-barrier shelters before a permanent location was found at the Chippewa Street site.
“Operating the low-barrier shelter has placed a considerable strain on our resources and impacted other parts of our agency,” Davis added. “We have come to recognize we can no longer continue to operate a 24/7 crisis service and believe there are other community partners who are better suited to deliver these services over the long-term.”
DNSSAB will now seek to find a new operator for the low-barrier shelter to take over on May 1.
