A Windsor recovery home is working to get back on its feet after a kitchen fire forced residents out of the building.
Hand in Hand Support on Sandwich Street serves about 50 men in a 90-day recovery program.
Co-founder Robert Sandwith says the blaze Monday night destroyed the kitchen, leaving the facility without power while crews work through repairs, insurance claims and utility restoration.
He says the most important outcome was that everyone got out safely.
“The fire happened. We got everybody out of the building. The fire department was great. They came in and helped us, but unfortunately, we lost our kitchen in the process,” Sandwith said.
He says support from the community has been overwhelming, but restoring food services is a top priority.
“In recovery, there’s a couple of really important things: coffee and food. We serve 150 meals a day, and we do that, and we rely on that solely on donations and working within other organizations. So having our kitchen back up and operational is an absolute necessity,” he said.
With the building unusable for now, Sandwith says the organization has arranged alternate accommodations while repair work begins.
“We have all of our residents and staff at an undisclosed location right now, just temporary housing where we have food going to,” he said.
“We do have staff on site here at 3020 Sandwich Street 24/7, just making sure the building is safe and secure. Trying to just mediate between the different contractors that will be coming in here.”
There’s no timeline yet for reopening, although Sandwith says they’re hopeful they’ll be back up and running soon.
He says anyone looking to get in touch with the organization should send an email to: info@handinhandsupports.com.
-With files from CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru