By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Province to fund permanent shelter space in Red Deer

Mar 7, 2019 | 5:12 PM

It appears the provincial government has agreed to fulfill a long-standing ask by The City of Red Deer to fund a permanent 24/7 shelter.

“After consulting with community leaders and city council members, we will be investing in an emergency shelter for Red Deer,” says Irfan Sabir, Minister of Community and Social Services, in a statement. “The details of this commitment are still being finalized but we will have more to share in the coming weeks.”

Monday, Red Deer city council voted to extend a development permit for Safe Harbour to operate its warming centre and overflow bed space during the summer months.

The warming centre has been approved to run for every winter since 2015. For the last two years, Safe Harbour has sought permission to open up the overflow beds.

It was during debate on Monday when Mayor Tara Veer corroborated what Sabir has since confirmed with rdnewsNOW.

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“Knowing that we need a permanent 24/7 shelter, we’ve been advocating to the province for many, many years,” Veer said. “But for the first time in those many years, we do have the attention of the province because of the critical situation in Red Deer.”

“I would be very excited to get rid of the ATCO trailers and be able to build something that works better for our community,” says Kath Hoffman, Safe Harbour Executive Director and Captain.

“We would be really happy to find out that there’s capital funding coming because for the last 14 years I’ve been at Safe Harbour, every winter, we hold our breath to see if the band-aids we have on our shelter are going to stay on, and if the band-aids are going to be big enough for the people we may or may not have.

“The fact that the province has said that is awesome. However that money comes, it has been long-awaited and the community needs to celebrate that.”

The most recent Point in Time Homeless Count conducted in 2018 revealed 144 homeless people in Red Deer. Of them, 55 per cent identified as chronically homeless, and 17 per cent were under the age of 25. 

Eighty-two percent reported using an emergency shelter in the past 12 months.

Other than the shelter available at Safe Harbour in the Railyards area, The Mustard Seed in Riverside Meadows offers 43 beds. There is also space for women at the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter and youth at the Youth and Volunteer Centre.

Hoffman said Monday that on average, more than 20 of the 26 overflow beds have been used each night since November.

More than 100 people come through the doors of the warming centre each day.