(Safe Harbour Society)

By Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

In the midst of the polar vortex...

No one turned away at Red Deer’s temporary homeless shelter

Feb 12, 2021 | 4:36 PM

Bone-chilling temperatures throughout central Alberta over the past several days has officials with Red Deer’s Safe Harbour Society grateful for the extra shelter space established in the city last year.

Kath Hoffman, executive director for Safe Harbour, which offers emergency shelter, housing services, and support services to the city’s homeless, says the new spaces allocated by the province in March 2020 are a big improvement over their previous set-up.

“We were able to get out of the ATCO trailers that were in our parking lot and did not allow for social distancing and move across the street into Cannery Row, which allows for football-sized space,” says Hoffman.

“For the first time in years and years and years, we didn’t have to worry about having to turn anybody away in the cold. That is such an exhale of relief for all of us, especially my team on the front line who before had to be faced with that.”

Hoffman notes, however, that in terribly cold weather like this, their numbers actually tend to go down a bit.

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“People who are at other people’s homes, those people aren’t so quick to kick people out in the cold. I think that’s maybe why our numbers go down,” she explains. “Our numbers are a little bit down in the shelter, but we’re really grateful for the extra space and we were able to keep everybody warm that needed it.”

Hoffman says members of the community also stepped up to help those in need.

“We had community responding with extra donations because, you know, we’re all Canadians and it’s in our DNA to keep people warm,” suggests Hoffman. “Lights were shining extra bright on us with clothing donations and that sort of thing but like the rest of the community, we were hunkered down and staying warm.”

Hoffman points out, however, there remains significant concern regarding drug overdoses.

“That’s more of an issue for us than the cold. More people are using inside than outside. So we had an increase in people trying to use substances in the shelter, then of course we had to put a stop to. Before, they would just go outside.”

With the temporary Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) just metres away from Cannery Row, Hoffman notes that facility still sees strong use.

“Typically people are waiting in our shelter to use that facility or come into our shelter after. So we’re really glad it’s close in proximity for sure. We just hope that service continues past March 31.”

Hoffman says their intent moving forward though is to work with the province, the city and other key stakeholders in obtaining funding for a permanent new 24/7 shelter with wrap-around services previously approved for the community.

“We’re hoping that this crowd that we’re serving at Cannery Row is going to be a part of that integrated shelter and we’ll finally have a place that’s permanent. We’ve got hope and we certainly have the need.”