**CITY OF TIMMINS NEWS RELEASE**

While the City of Timmins is getting some temporary relief from the extreme cold weather, warming shelter services will continue until further notice.

“We are finally seeing a short break in the extreme cold we’ve been facing over the last couple weeks, but staff members at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre and Living Space, as well as the countless volunteers, all remain dedicated to keeping people sheltered from the elements,” said Mayor George Pirie. “I cannot say enough about the warmth and dedication of those who have been putting in the time and effort to ensure our city’s most vulnerable residents are in out of the cold. This is a true gesture of compassion and goodwill. I am so proud of each and every person who has helped in any way, big or small, to show that we are a community that cares.”

The warming shelter schedule will be as follows:
– Evenings from 5:30pm to the following morning at 8am at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre ( 179 Kirby Avenue)
– Daytime from 8:30am to 5:30pm at Living Space (27 Cedar Street North)

Background:

The Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Timmins will call an alert when Environment Canada predicts overnight temperatures of -27C or lower with or without wind chill, based on warnings from Health Canada of imminent risk of health at that temperature.

Alerts will be issued in the morning before an extremely cold night so community agencies have time to call in extra staff to provide additional services.

The Timmins Native Friendship Centre, at 179 Kirby Avenue, opens its doors in the evenings after 5:30pm to serve as a warming shelter in the event of a cold weather alert. Living Space is playing an important role in bringing services to people but is challenged by some physical constraints that do not allow it to effectively act as a warming shelter during cold weather periods. As such, its staff and services are shifted over to the Timmins Native Friendship Centre on nights of cold weather alerts.

Filed under: Local News