Wesley Day Centre to close in early 2023

Non-profit wants to shift resources to better tackle the root causes of homelessness

Hamilton’s homeless population will be without a key service next year after Wesley Urban Ministries announced Wednesday it will shutter its longtime downtown day centre.

The permanent closure — effective March 31, 2023 — comes as the non-profit looks to maximize resources to address the root causes of homelessness, said executive director Don Seymour.

“During the pandemic and the housing crisis we’ve seen homelessness become that much more visible, and we aren’t seeing any movement of people beyond emergency services,” Seymour said.

“After long chats internally about what we could be doing differently to solve homelessness, we made the decision to put our resources into a different kind of service that creates more housing options.”

It marks an unceremonious end to a medical and social-services hub that’s served hundreds of vulnerable residents for more than 25 years. Founded in 1996, the Wesley Day Centre has been a conduit for critical wraparound supports including on-site health and housing services, addiction counselling and treatment, HIV testing, a foot clinic and primary care.

But the centre’s staple is its free meal program, which helps people who can’t afford the bare necessities after paying rent stay housed.

Seymour said around 650 people pop into the Catherine Street North hub every month for a meal. Asked whether the closure will leave his clients in a hungry bind, Seymour said Wesley is connecting with community partners to ensure the city’s homeless remain fed.

The absence of a drop-in day centre will create challenges for the city’s homeless community, said Jennifer Bonner, who operates a downtown, volunteer-run space for those living rough. Still, the executive director of the Hub on Vine Street believes Wesley has the right intentions. Bonner said homelessness is a problem that can only be solved with thorough, long-term planning that emphasizes affordable housing alongside wraparound supports.

In a statement, Michelle Baird, director of the Hamilton’s housing services division, said a lack of funding from the province has made it difficult for the city to operate homelessness services.

“We continue to see unprecedented demand for homelessness system supports since the beginning of the pandemic, and while the city emporarily expanded various services during the pandemic, (we) no longer (have) the provincial and federal funding to continue operating services at this scale, and sectorwide staffing resources remain strained.”

The centre’s staple is its free meal program, which helps people who can’t afford the bare necessities after paying rent stay housed