Residents of a Sarnia neighbourhood continue to push Lambton County to close down an overflow shelter in a former church on Exmouth Street.

What was intended to be a temporary, seasonal, out-of-the-cold shelter opened in March 2023 in the former Laurel Lea-St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, run by the Inn of the Good Shepherd, a Sarnia charity providing shelter and services to those in need.

After it opened, Lambton County, which oversees services for those experiencing homelessness, decided to keep the shelter open all last year to provide beds amid efforts to clear homeless camps in the city.

The county also opened a housing resource centre in the building, where Lambton’s homelessness prevention team and other local agencies work to connect the unhoused with services.

The Melrose Co

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