The order to temporarily shutdown the Downtown Mission's facilities on Victoria Avenue and Ouellette Avenue has been rescinded by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Mission executive director Reverend Ron Dunn says the order was lifted Thursday morning around 8:30am.
He says guests will begin to transition back to the mission from the Temporary Emergency Shelter at the downtown aquatics centre with roughly 20 guests returning per day.
Dunn says there is a cap of approximately 80 guests at the mission's sites.
He says a balanced approach is needed for the reopening.
"We're working very closely with the city and other partners involved to make sure we don't pull all the staff at one time," he says. "Our staff are quite involved at the aquatic centre so making sure we do it in a way that makes sense."
Dunn says the past month has been challenging but is glad to have the order lifted.
"The disagreements and some strong language from both sides, at the end of the day, we all came together to do what we needed to do for the people that we all serve," says Dunn. "That's where the smile comes from really, is knowing first of all we're stronger than we were going into this."
According to the mission, more than 160 guests were provided shelter, meals, and tested for COVID-19 at the emergency shelter sites in Windsor. 150 individuals received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite the order being lifted, the mission remains under a COVID-19 outbreak.
The shelter at the downtown aquatic centre started to welcome guests on February 25. It is expected to shutdown on March 29.