St. The Convent of the Sisters of Mercy in downtown St. John’s was home to nuns. Now the 19th-century building can house and sleep around 100 people trying to find a safe place to rest or call home.

Transformation of historical building, St. It was a multi-million-dollar project by Gathering Place, a community health center and center in downtown St. John’s that was struggling to keep up with demand for its 30-bed emergency shelter.

Located next to the historic Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Military Road, the new expansion has off-white walls and shiny floors, but there are hints of the past throughout: stone wall fittings, large wooden doors and an original wooden partition. Tile flooring with the word “Mercy” engraved on it. These pieces preserve the building’s original craftsmanship from the 1800s.

Gathering Place calls the four-story building Mercy House. On the first floor is a new emergency shelter, previously offered in Gathering Place’s main auditorium. The remaining floors belong to temporary and supportive housing units, the latter of which will be people’s permanent residence.

As homelessness rates rise in the capital, Gathering Place’s housing manager Sherry Whittle says the abbey’s new affordable housing units will offer stability to people stuck in limbo in the shelter system or on the streets.

“You actually take an extra hit to your psyche,” Whittle said. “My whole soul is happy to know that we have the opportunity to provide right now.”

new shelter

The new emergency shelter has 40 beds, down from 30 beds in the old shelter. The new shelter also has four separate sleeping areas, and all beds now have a privacy barrier, while the old shelter had only two separate areas and no walls for privacy between beds.

Kim Grant, assistant general manager of Gathering Place, says the expansion of shelter services is a sigh of relief. When they first started operating at Gathering Place in 2020, they had over 200 guests on their system. This number has risen to over 2,000.

“When we first opened our doors with temporary shelter, we rarely had capacity,” he said. “We’ve been operating at full capacity every night for probably the last year… And unfortunately we’re at a point where we’re having to turn people away at the door.”

WATCH | See how an 1800s convent was transformed into shelter and affordable housing units:

St. A former monastery in St. John’s can now house and sleep nearly 100 people

The Convent of the Sisters of Mercy was home to nuns. Now Gathering Place has transformed the historic site into a new emergency shelter and affordable housing units. CBC’s Jessica Singer takes us on a tour of the building and shows how it has retained its historic charm.

While shelter guests were previously gathered on Military Road waiting for a bed, Grant says they now must pass through an intake office on the side of the building, where they will meet with staff and be assigned a locker and a bed.

The new shelter opened on October 30 and operating hours vary between 8pm and 8am daily.

transitional housing

Temporary housing is located on the second floor of the building. The shelter is for people trying to transition to a more permanent living situation.

“The idea of ​​our transition floor is for people who have been in shelter for a long time and want to get out of shelter but are not quite ready to move into independent living in the community,” he said. Donate.

It has a capacity of 20 beds, including eight separate rooms and two rooms with communal living arrangements. All rooms are equipped with a bedside table and mini refrigerator.

Whittle says finding a spot in the transitional housing unit occurs through referral, and potential guests will complete an application. People will be prioritized based on certain criteria, including how long they have been homeless.

Grant says people will have to pay for temporary housing, but Gathering Place is still setting prices and leases.

Guests stay in temporary housing units for 18 months to two years as they await a more permanent housing solution.

supportive housing

The top two floors of the House of Mercy are devoted to supportive housing units, which will become permanent housing for some. There are 15 units on each floor, 2 of which can accommodate couples. Each room has a mini refrigerator, microwave, sink, storage space, bedside table and television.

Grant says the supportive housing is also based on a lease agreement with Gathering Place, but those details are still being worked out.

Grant says this option offers people more independence than temporary housing, but there will still be staff support. For example, he says guests will have live-in resident advisors they can turn to if there are any problems.

Residents living in supportive housing units have their own pass that grants access to the building and their rooms. Tenants have their own entrance from the property’s main courtyard, which is separate from the reception office for housing and temporary housing guests.

Unlike shelter guests who must leave at 8 a.m., transitional and supportive housing tenants will have access to the building 24/7, Grant says. All guests and tenants will have access to programs in Gathering Place’s main building.

Transitional and supportive housing units are not currently in operation but will be phased in over time.

It’s a long time coming

The Convent of Nuns and Sisters of Mercy founded the Gathering Place in 1994, which has grown to offer services such as daily hot meals, social groups, and a dental and medical clinic.

He opened his emergency shelter in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shelter initially offered its guests Red Cross beds on the auditorium floor; this was a temporary sleeping solution for those who didn’t have a roof over their heads.

“I think we were a little naive to think people would come, stay a few nights and move on,” Grant said. “And that didn’t happen.”

He says the population of the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy was gradually decreasing, and in 2020 the two remaining sisters left the convent building. That’s when the sisters gifted their home to the Gathering Place to help shelter others.

The organization received a $2 million donation from couple Pat O’Callaghan and Paula Boucher to transform the space. The Gathering Place used this money to: obtaining funding from federal and state governmentsand soon took over the monastery building and set to work.

The new facility has tripled the number of people who can sleep in the Meeting Place. The biggest change, Whittle says, is that some people stuck in the emergency shelter system are now able to transition to something more permanent: a place to call home.

“We can now take someone who comes into the emergency shelter and look forward with them and move them along on their journey to where they need to go next and actually walk alongside them in their darkest and most difficult times,” he said.

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