"Raise the Roof"
Housing for All

Officially opened November 12, 2010, it is a culmination of 3 years of planning, fundraising and construction. Providing both emergency shelter and transitional housing facilities it is Sarnia's first structured shelter facility. 

It is truly a community facility - with a goal of $2.4 million to be raised, it saw 3 level's of government, businesses, the faith community, service clubs, corporations and the general public all come together to help The Lodge become reality. Over 1,400 donors in total! This was true altruism as, other than opening day, these supporters will likely never enter The Lodge, yet they believed in the need for the need for the community to have such a service!

Many thanks to our major contributors: 

The Emergency Shelter program has 25 beds in men's and women's dorms and a family room along with washrooms, kitchen and dining room and laundry facilities. It also includes a resource room to support clients in on-line housing and job searches and workshop space as well as a quiet chapel area. There is also a medical room which, through partnership with other agencies provides for basic outreach medical support for the clients. Clients are provided with breakfast and then are out during the day with appointments, housing searches etc, and return in the evening for supper. Lunch is available through The Inn's existing soup kitchen program. Trained staff work with clients to find permanent stable housing as well as other needs. 

The Transitional Housing program program is designed to assist the residents in gaining basic life skills, the lack of which has led to homelessness. This part of The Lodge contains 19 beds in 5 living units. Much like a college dorm, 3 or 4 bedrooms share a kitchen, living room & washroom. One of the units is accessible, allowing accommodation for residents with disabilities. Set up to mirror independent living and as a part of the learning process, clients are responsible for rent, unit upkeep and maintence, grocery shopping and cooking. The staff guide and supervise them in their day to day living, working in partnership with the client and other community resources to improve skills so that independent living could be achieved. 

Like the pareable - give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime - The Lodge can do both, give someone in need a roof for a night or teach them to live and give them a roof for a lifetime. 

Thanks to all those who have contributed so far to make this project a reality.  You are providing a real opportunity to change lives!

(1) Ontario Municipal Social Services Association. (2005, November). Emergency Shelter Task Force Final Report.
(2) Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (1998, October). Documentation of Best Practices Addressing Homelessness.  Socio-economic Series, Issue 41.
(3) Table 17: Low income (based on before-tax low income measures, LIM's), Statistics Canada 2003 data
(4) Source: Statistics Canada Custom Tabulation Canadian Revenue Agency Data, 2003 Families Data (T1 Family File) Table 17