As the snow begins to fly, Sarnia-Lambton is dealing with an alarming spike in homeless people needing shelter.
Inn of the Good Shepherd Executive Director Myles Vanni told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Monday that the demand for emergency housing has more than quadrupled since the pandemic hit in the spring.
"Pre-COVID we had 35 people in shelter, last night we had 177 people in our care," said Vanni. "Some were homeless before, some have become homeless because of COVID. It has created a huge demand, we've got people in motels and hotels all over the city, we even have our own isolation unit."
Vanni said, unlike Toronto and London where you see people on the streets, in Sarnia-Lambton the homeless tend to "couch surf", staying temporarily with family or friends. He said those opportunities are no longer available due to social distancing and isolation requirements.
Inn of the Good Shepherd Executive Director Myles Vanni.
At the peak of the pandemic, food bank usage was up about 40 per cent, but that has since returned to more normal levels.
Vanni said there's also larger numbers of families registered for this year's Adopt a Family Program.
He said during a regular year, Christmas is already stressful for families in need, and the pandemic has made it that much tougher.
"Society builds a lot of expectations on kids about what Christmas is about and all the toys and the latest systems and games, and that sort of stuff," he said. "It's already tough anyways when you're working part-time, multiple jobs, just paycheck to paycheck. Add this in when hours are even less, if you even got a job, it's extremely difficult for those parents."
Vanni says if you're interested in becoming a secret Santa for a family, you can visit the Inn of the Good Shepherd's website, or call the John Street office at 519-344-1746 ext 314.