GERALDTON – The local PACE office at 301 Main St. is in the holiday spirit with plans for a Christmas dinner Saturday afternoon.
The Thunder Bay-based PACE, which stands for People Advocating for Change through Empowerment, is a warming shelter where everyone’s welcome on weekdays, Tanner Erechook said Friday.
“They can come drop in, have a coffee, hang out,” said Erechook, who arrived to Geraldton this month to be a local outreach worker for the non-profit organization.
“And this Saturday, we’ll host an early Christmas dinner.
The PACE space, which has the capacity for about 50 people at a time, will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday for the Christmas sustenance.
Daneff's Food Market is supplying the food while Stedmans V&S, the PACE branch’s next-door neighbour, has donated clothing gifts.
“The warming shelter is absolutely critical to Geraldton,” Erechook said, adding that homelessness is “an epidemic.”
“It’s nice for people to have a place to go rather than in a snowbank or a corner in a building or just being kicked out of a public place,” he said. “It’s nice to have a building where everyone is welcome.”
