Life inside Nellie’s shelter during the lockdown is quite different than other times. Kids can’t be found running through the halls or bounding down the stairs to our children’s playroom. Moms can’t be found in the kitchen making a cup of tea or joining a group program in the main common room. Because to keep everyone at Nellie’s safe, women and their children are asked to stay in their rooms as much as possible.

“We have to strictly enforce these rules to keep everyone safe,” says Maureen Caines-Comrie, Shelter Manager, adding that as the province loosens lockdown and stay-at-home measures in Toronto, she too will be able to loosen restrictions in the shelter. “We don’t have COVID in the shelter. That’s the positive thing and it means we are doing everything right.”

Last spring, during the first provincial lockdown and emergency orders, we stepped up cleaning and disinfection measures in our shelter and asked residents to stay six feet away from each other and staff. But we carried on with many of our in-person programs, with restrictions. Since schools and daycares were closed, we opened our children’s playroom almost daily, for example, to help older kids with the online learning curriculum and engage the younger ones from a safe social distance.

But then we had a COVID-19 outbreak. In total, 11 residents tested positive (all of our front-line staff tested negative), and everyone moved to a quarantine centre or a nearby hotel while the shelter was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. When we were allowed to move back into the shelter, a pandemic specialist determined that our space was too small to safely social distance, and so, since June, we’ve operated all of our shelter services out of two locations—the shelter and a nearby hotel, where we have up to nine rooms available to us.

The provincial lockdown and emergency order this winter were much more specific for congregate living spaces. Almost all face-to-face programming and support has been suspended and common areas closed. Women meet with staff or joined one of our support programs virtually from their room. School-aged children attend class virtually from their room (schools reopen in Toronto on February 16) and log into our Children’s Program, which gives them a safe space to express their feelings and work through their emotions, a few times a week, with mom always nearby.

“I try to shift away from being associated with school because the kids are online all day for school now and I don’t want them to feel that the Children’s Program is an extension of school—I want it to be for them to have space and time for themselves,” says Cordelia Fox, Nellie’s Children’s Program Worker.

Last spring, we also hired additional cooks and introduced three daily prepared meals per day to our schedule in order to encourage everyone to stay inside as much as possible. Previously, only dinner was provided to residents, leaving each person to shop for and use the kitchen to prepare their remaining meals for the day. Our cooks continue to prepare all meals for the women and their children at Nellie’s, who then return to their room to eat.

Fresh air and exercise breaks, however, are encouraged. Women and their children frequently use the shelter’s small yard or walk to a nearby park.

“This pandemic has gone on longer than anyone expected, which has impacted everything we do. Most of the women here understand why we’re making new rules all the time but when you put so many different personalities in one spot, and each under more stress than usual, it’s hard,” says Maureen. “It really breaks my heart because I have to enforce the rules but it’s what we need to do to keep everyone safe.”