Shelter non-profit votes to dissolve

The Out of the Cold Community Association (OOTC), a non-profit group that provided low-barrier shelter options in Halifax, unanimously voted to dissolve on Wednesday.

Emma Greer, chair of the organization, led the meeting at the North End Public Library. Other board members and previous employees were in attendance — a total of 15 votes were counted in favour of the dissolution. 

“Dissolving was not a decision that was made lightly,” said Greer in an interview on Thursday. 

The organization was forced to dissolve due to losing provincial funding that had previously been available to them. 

“We currently don’t have the manpower to generate any form of money that would actually (be able) to support folks,” said Greer.

Greer started volunteering for OOTC 10 years ago and became a board member when the province contracted the group to operate two modular housing sites — one in Halifax on Cogswell Street, and the other in Dartmouth on Church Street.

The organization prioritized helping people who struggled to access shelters and had implemented a harm reduction framework to control substance use in their shelter spaces.

Greer described the OOTC’s low barrier approach to support and shelter as “meeting people where they’re at in order to be able to serve them properly.” 

On July 8, the province terminated the contract, firing 42 unionized OOTC employees. About a week later, the group rallied outside Province House in protest of the province’s actions. 

The labour advocate group Workers’ Alliance Halifax showed up to the protest in support of the workers. 

“From a worker’s perspective, it’s outrageous and, frankly, should be unacceptable,” said Ben Kelly, chair of the Alliance. 

In an interview on Friday, Kelly said he is disappointed, but not surprised, to hear about OOTC’s decision to dissolve. 

“It’s a terrible thing to lose any union,” said Kelly. “Something so difficult to build in the first place.”

Campbell McClintock worked with OOTC as a front-line support worker from 2020 to 2023.

He said the contract with the province was “unjustly terminated, very suddenly and without consideration for the impact that it would have on (the staff) and the livelihoods of the folks living there.” 

According to McClintock, OOTC was working with limited resources, and that the services available at the sites operated in “cramped conditions” when a communal environment with strong visibility is required for safety reasons. 

“The issue was not Out of the Cold. The issue was the government not believing in the project well enough to fund it adequately,” he said. 

Without the proper resources to provide support, McClintock said OOTC was not set up to do the work they sought out to do.

On Wednesday evening, Greer acknowledged the impact of the dissolution on staff members.

“I’m holding space for everyone who was connected,” said Greer, adding that she hopes the community will find solace in that the dissolution was “done to protect the people we were supporting.” 

Greer declined to comment further on the province’s July contract termination. 

As for the future of the association, Greer said that she will not be involved. 

“I hope that Out of the Cold is remembered as a grassroots organization that continued to exist for as long as it did because of the deep level of love that came from the community that created,” she said.