Nova Scotia·NewCaremongers, an overnight warming centre, was concerned that it may not be able to secure funding from the province this winter. On Tuesday night, council voted to give the group $20,000 in “bridge funding” to help them get the centre ready faster. CAO says he feels confident the province will approve funding for CaremongersAnjuli Patil · CBC News · Posted: Dec 10, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A tent is set up on the outskirts of Windsor, N.S. (Grey Butler/CBC)An overnight warming centre in West Hants could end up receiving funding from the province after previously expressing concerns that it couldn’t meet requirements.On Tuesday night, West Hants council voted to give the Windsor-West Hants Caremongers volunteer group $20,000 in “bridge funding” so that it could get the centre operational as quick as possible.Prior to the vote, CAO Mark Phillips told council that he spoke to a provincial representative who administers the program that Caremongers applied to, and said it’s sounding likely the group will get provincial funding.”They’re feeling very confident and a heavy indication that the funding will be approved for the Caremongers for the warming centre for this up and coming winter season,” Phillips told council.”Of course it is their application, so I don’t have all the details but generally it is associated with an overnight warming centre seven days a week.”Further, Phillips said he also spoke to representatives from Caremongers. He said they anticipate having a “soft start” to the warming centre possibly as soon as Friday. The founder and president of Caremongers wasn’t unavailable for an interview on Tuesday night.”I’m glad the province is stepping up and helping and I’m glad Caremongers didn’t pull their application and they’re going to be the ones that oversee this,” said Deputy Mayor Debbie Francis.Phillips said the provincial representative told him council’s decision to add funding to the centre wouldn’t negatively affect their application.If the provincial funding is approved, Phillips said Caremongers could receive it as soon as Jan. 1. He said a portion of council’s funding could support the December operations and after that, the province’s funding would take over.Phillip said he was told the Hants Aquatic Centre, where the warming centre would operate out of, meets the province’s “modified version of the eligibility of the program as is.”MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORAnjuli Patil is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia’s digital team.
West Hants council approves $20K for warming centre
