On a cold day in March 2020, the Transition House Coalition of Northumberland was providing emergency shelter for 24 people, two more than they had beds for. The next day COVID-19 restrictions forced them to shut down, leaving two dozen people with nowhere to go. Anne Newman, executive director for the shelter, was not going to let that happen. 

“We moved into a high school cafeteria, and we stayed there for six months,” Newman said. “It was different because you don’t have any privacy. You’re sleeping in a cafeteria in a bunk right beside someone else.” 

While not an ideal location, it was the only space they were allowed to operate in and the school at least gave their clients a warm place to sleep. That is until August when pandemic restrictions had eased enough for the school to think about reopening and needed their temporary guests to move out. Luckily, they were allowed back into the shelter, but only at 40 percent capacity, a steep drop in the number of people who could be housed. 

The Transition House Coalition of Northumberland serves seven municipalities and is the only homeless shelter in the county that provides its clients with connections to a range of service providers like mental health workers or addiction support. During the pandemic, service providers went virtual to help reduce in-person contact. That was obviously not an option for the staff or clients of the shelter. 

“We had one outbreak and it was hard,” Newman said. “It was terrible, and we don’t want to go through that again. The staff were almost in tears by the time it was over.” 

As an essential service, the shelter needed to operate, but they also had a duty to keep their staff and clients safe as well. So Newman applied to the Canadian Red Cross Stop the Spread and Stay Safe program for access to rapid testing kits for their personnel and the training to use them. 

“I think it creates peace of mind for the staff. They’re considered essential workers and I want them to feel safe,” Newman said. 

While staff are now also required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, rapid testing provides them with an additional layer of protection and the comfort that they’re doing everything they can to stay safe. 

“The challenge in our environment is that while our staff is 100 percent vaccinated, we cannot force our clients to be vaccinated because that’s a human rights issue,” Newman said. “There are a number of clients who don’t want the vaccine which means that we have unvaccinated people in on a regular basis.” 

With the success of the rapid testing initiative for staff, the Transition House will now be providing them to clients as well as an added layer of protection. 

“We just don’t want to go through what would happen if someone came into the environment and exposed everyone. We have all the resources we need to keep people safe,” Newman said. “We have access to the rapid tests, we have rooms to isolate you in until you have your test results, and we have a program with the paramedics that if you are screened as positive, they will pick you up and take you to a motel room to isolate.” 

They have even provided rapid tests to contractors coming in to do maintenance on the shelter to reassure them that weren’t exposed to COVID-19. 

The staff at the shelter are a passionate and dedicated group, but they also bear the heavy burden of being on the frontlines of the pandemic and working to support some of the most marginalized people in society. Newman wants to make sure they are valued and supported. 

“I think having the rapid testing also shows leadership in the system, that you’re taking every precaution. I want to be the gold standard,” Newman said. “It’s been great, and I have to say the support from Red Cross has been amazing. I don’t want it to end.” 

Non-profits, charities, and Indigenous community organizations with frontline workers in participating provinces may be eligible to receive free COVID-19 rapid antigen testing kits as part of the personnel screening program. Click here to learn more and to begin filling out an application. 

Here in Canada and overseas, the Red Cross stands ready to help people before, during and after a disaster. As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – which is made up of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 192 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies – the Canadian Red Cross is dedicated to helping people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supporting them in strengthening their resilience.