'Hot cup of coffee warms the soul'

Montreal's homeless shelters managed to keep the city's most vulnerable residents safe during the past few nights when temperatures dropped into the minus 20s by stepping up patrols, extending their hours and setting up emergency-camp cots and mattresses in their facilities.

But the cold, frigid air that has gripped the city since Saturday and, according to Environment Canada, will only begin to relent today as a new weather system moves in from the Great Lakes bringing with it more seasonal temperatures, has left the vital social safety net facing a new problem.

The Old Brewery Mission and the Welcome Hall Mission, both emergency shelters and, St. Michael's Mission, a downtown day centre for the homeless, report they are facing coffee shortages resulting from the cold weather that has spiked demand for the soothing hot beverage by upward of 20 per cent.

So in addition to the basic items that help the homeless weather the winter -sleeping bags, gloves, tuques, ski pants and new underwear and socks -shelters are now asking the public for coffee donations, too.

"It helps to keep the guys steady and calm," said Matthew Pearce, director-general of the Old Brewery Mission, where a coffee-drop-box was brimming yesterday.

Although not a life-threatening problem, shelter officials said yesterday that their inability to offer one of life's simpler creature comforts - a good, hot cup of coffee -is an important issue for the homeless, many of whom are struggling to stay sober.

"Some of our guys do get a little bit of a rush with coffee, it's caffeine," said Cyril Morgan, director-general of the Welcome Hall Mission. "But really it's to warm up.

"In our society, having a hot cup of coffee warms the soul."

George Greene is a volunteer at St. Michael's Mission, a drop-in centre on President Kennedy Ave., which serves about 300 cups of coffee a day.

Greene said there were almost 100 people looking for a hot cup of coffee, lining up before the centre opened at 8 a.m. yesterday. "Our coffee situation is precarious."

A St. Michael's volunteer goes around to local food banks each month to collect coffee but this month, he said, supply ran out by mid-month, forcing the centre to purchase a cheaper substitute, tea.

Over at the Old Brewery Mission, Pearce said, staff have had to start watering down its coffee in order to stretch remaining supplies. About 2,000 cups of coffee a day are served by the mission across its various facilities for men and women,

For the past six years, the mission has received a huge donation -the equivalent of about 184,000 cups of coffee a year -from Van Houtte Inc. The Montreal-based coffee roaster stepped in 2005 when the cash-strapped mission was about to stop giving out free coffee in order to cut costs. At that time the coffee budget was $30,000 annually.

But that shipment from Van Houtte arrives in March and it has been drawn down to such a point, the coffee now being served at the Old Brewery Mission is being watered down, he said. "It doesn't supply a satisfying hit."

In addition, Pearce said, the mission has had to cut its 9 p.m. coffee break, a usually calming ritual for the men as they settle in for the night at the Webster Pavilion, a 237-bed emergency shelter on Clark Street. "It brings the place down," he said. "Hopefully we will be able to start it up again soon."