(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Troy Gillard

WORKING WITH WHAT THEY HAVE

Shelters bracing to help Red Deer’s homeless during cold snap

Jan 8, 2020 | 2:40 PM

Red Deer’s Safe Harbour Society is hopeful they have enough space for those who’ll need it during the cold snap about to hit our city.

Temperatures are forecast to fall as low as -26 Celsius between now and Tuesday, with overnight lows expected to reach -31. Wind chill is also expected to be a factor over the coming days.

Kath Hoffman with Safe Harbour Society says not having a 24/7 shelter in Red Deer makes it tough, but she feels they’re ready for what is likely coming their way this weekend.

“Between us and The Mustard Seed we are going to be able to handle what may turn out to be necessary,” she says.

Hoffman says they are seeing between 120 and 150 drop-ins at their warming centre each day. Safe Harbour has room for 46 people to sleep overnight, which Hoffman says creates even more of a space crunch because they still see drop-ins at night.

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“We have a warm spot during the day and, ideally, enough space for them at night,” she shares. “For anything else, all they have to do is give us a call and we can try to help however we can with the temporary resources we have.”

The shelter at The Mustard Seed, which Hoffman says works in close step with Safe Harbour, has capacity for up to 46 adults during the winter months.

The last Point in Time homeless count conducted in 2018 revealed that 144 people in Red Deer were experiencing homelessness.

The City of Red Deer continues to lobby the provincial government for a 24/7 shelter with on-site services that include harm reduction strategies, emergency housing, residential treatment and daytime support services.

The former NDP government announced $7 million last February for a 120-bed shelter, but the UCP later put a freeze on that money and its status remains in limbo.

“Everyone’s working hard to make sure that money does come to Red Deer so this kind of nail-biting can finally be over for us. We’re hopeful that’s going to happen,” Hoffman said with cautious optimism.

The province is continuing to provide year-round funding for Safe Harbour’s existing daytime warming centre in the meantime.

Safe Harbour Society is located at 5246 53 Avenue. The Mustard Seed is located at 6002 54 Avenue.