By Laine Mitchell (Twitter: @Laine_Mitchell)

Drayton Valley homeless shelter in need of a home

Jul 3, 2018 | 7:00 AM

After three years of operating in the United Church, Drayton Valley’s sole homeless shelter is without a home.

The church dissolved in May and is up for sale, forcing the Community Mat Program to pack up and search for a new location. 

In 2017, 12 individuals used the program with 32 bed nights being provided over 110 nights of being open. 

Advocates for homeless people are highlighting that the limbo of the shelter underscores the need for provincial funding for rural homelessness.

“Rural homelessness doesn’t just always stay rural, it can migrate to the cities because that’s where people perceive the resources being,” said Emily Hickman, the homelessness and poverty reduction coordinator in Drayton Valley. “Shipping our problems somewhere else isn’t helpful in the long run.”

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Funding for the Community Mat Program comes from federal dollars, being divvied up by the Alberta Rural Development Network. All the provincial dollars for homelessness go to the big cities in Alberta, something Hickman said may not be the most efficient strategy. 

“One of our goals is to advocate to the province for more attention and funding to be put towards rural homelessness, which in our view is money and attention being put towards prevention.” 

Hickman added that she hopes a new location for the program can be found by the fall, with a couple potential places showing interest.

The program generally goes to an on-call basis over the summer because the program isn’t used a lot over the warmer months.