What was once a home for nuns has been transformed into a shelter and affordable housing

The Sisters of Mercy Monastery in downtown St. John’s used to house nuns. Now the 19th century building can sleep and house nearly 100 people who struggle to find a safe place to rest or call home.

The transformation of the historic building was a multi-million dollar project by the Gathering Place, a community health center and hub in downtown St. John’s that is struggling to keep up with demand for the 30-bed emergency shelter.

Located next to the historic Basilica of St. John the Baptist on Military Road, the new extension has off-white walls and glossy floors, but there are hints of the past everywhere: stone wall fixtures, large wooden doors and an original section of tile floor with the word “Mercy” engraved on it. These pieces retain the original craftsmanship from the 19th century.

The Gathering Place calls the four-story building Mercy House. There is a new emergency shelter on the first floor, which was previously offered in the main hall of the Gathering Place. The remaining floors are intended for temporary and supportive housing units, the latter of which will become permanent homes for people.

With homelessness rates rising in the capital, Gathering Place housing manager Sherry Whittle says the Convent’s new affordable housing units will provide stability for people stuck in limbo in the shelter system or on the streets.

“You actually get an extra kick in your mind,” Whittle said. “My whole mind is just elated to know that this is what we now have the opportunity to offer.”

The new home

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

Kim Grant, assistant director of the Gathering Place, says the expansion of shelter services comes with a sigh of relief. When she first started working with the Gathering Place in 2020, there were more than 200 guests in their system. That number has grown to more than 2,000.

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

While shelter guests previously congregated on Military Road while waiting for a bed, Grant says they now have to go through an intake office on the side of the building, where they will meet staff and be assigned a locker and a bed .

The new shelter opened on October 30 and is open every day from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Transition housing

Transitional housing is located on the second floor of the building. It is for people in the shelter who are trying to transition to a more permanent living situation.

“The idea of ​​our transition floor is for people who have been in the shelter for an extended period of time and want to move out of the shelter, but are not quite ready to live independently in the community,” Studiebeurs said.

It has 20 beds, including eight individual rooms and two rooms with shared living arrangements. All rooms are equipped with bedside tables and mini refrigerators.

Whittle says securing a spot in a temporary housing unit is done through referral, and potential guests will fill out an application. People are prioritized based on certain criteria, including how long they have been homeless.

People will have to pay for temporary housing, Grant said, but the Gathering Place still sets prices and lease agreements.

Guests stay in temporary housing units for 18 months to up to two years while they wait for a more permanent housing solution.

Supportive housing

The top two floors of the Mercy House are intended for supportive housing units, which will become permanent homes for some. There are 15 units on each floor, two of which are suitable for couples. Each room has a mini refrigerator, microwave, sink, storage, a nightstand and a television.

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

This option offers people more independence than temporary housing, Grant says, but there will still be staff support. For example, she says there will be live-in resident advisors that guests can turn to if there are problems on the floor.

Those living in supportive housing units have their own pass that allows them access to the building and their room. Tenants have a private entrance through the complex’s central courtyard, which is separate from the reception office for shelter and temporary housing guests.

Temporary and supportive housing tenants have 24/7 access to the building, unlike shelter guests, who must vacate by 8 a.m. All guests and tenants have access to programming in the Gathering Place main building, Grant said.

The transitional and supportive housing units are not currently in use, but will be phased in over time.

It takes a long time

Nuns from the Sisters of Mercy Convent 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.

It opened its emergency shelter in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shelter initially offered guests Red Cross cots on the floor of the venue – a temporary sleeping solution for those without a roof over their heads.

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

She says the population of the Sisters of Mercy Monastery steadily declined and in 2020 the two remaining sisters left the monastery building. Then the sisters donated their home to the Gathering Place to help house others.

The organization received a $2 million donation from husband and wife team Pat O’Callaghan and Paula Boucher to transform the space. The Gathering Place used that money secure funding from the federal and provincial governmentsand shortly afterwards it took over the monastery building and started work.

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

“Now we can take someone who comes to emergency shelter and be able to look forward with them, and take them on their journey to where they need to go, and actually walk alongside them in some of their darkest times and tough times,” she said.

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