Homeless could be sheltered in hotels during extreme cold

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/10/2023 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When shelters exhaust their overflow capacity, outreach organizations should consider providing affordable hotel stays to get some vulnerable people indoors during extreme weather.

Once extreme cold sets in over Winnipeg, hotel rooms could serve as a potential last resort to accommodate people experiencing homelessness when shelters are completely out of space and back-up options to add additional beds have already been used up, according to End Homelessness Winnipeg.

“We (will sometimes) find affordable hotels because we realize shelters are full and people have no place to go,” Betty Edel, senior director of housing supports for End Homelessness Winnipeg, told the city’s community services committee on Tuesday.

This option would be considered a rare step and End Homelessness Winnipeg confirmed it has not yet been used to cope with extreme weather, although it has been used for other emergency situations.

The comments were part of a presentation about a local extreme weather program, for which EHW is a key co-ordinator. The program involves 40 organizations, including Siloam Mission and the Salvation Army Centre of Hope, that serve vulnerable Winnipeggers. If an organization determines a hotel stay is needed, EHW would reimburse them for the cost through its grant from the federal Reaching Home initiative.

Since December 2022, EHW provided a total of $13,759 to serve vulnerable people during extreme weather, its presentation noted.

During an interview, End Homelessness Winnipeg president Jason Whitford said demand for shelter space is growing as temperatures drop. Some shelters and safe spaces have at times served far more people than they were designed to hold, highlighting the need for alternatives, Whitford said.

“(Sometimes these places lack) enough room, bathrooms can’t accommodate the volume. It could be potentially detrimental to people that are there or the staff,” he said.

For example, Whitford said the 24/7 warming space at N’Dinawemak – Our Relatives’ Place has an occupancy of 150 but recently served 220 people for a short time when other resources were full.

He noted some community organizations have used short hotel stays to assist people at risk of homelessness in the past, such as following the fire at the Windsor Hotel that destroyed the building and forced out about two dozen long-term residents.

Organizations who serve unsheltered people are also struggling to find staff, as widespread labour shortages continue, Edel told the Free Press.

“It’s just taking a long time to find staff to hire. And that’s not unique to Winnipeg, that’s right across Canada,” she said.

Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of the community services committee, said he’s not surprised new options to provide shelter are being offered.

“There are more and more people unsheltered on the streets of Winnipeg. There are more and more people dealing with mental-health concerns, addictions and homelessness in general. To see that they’re now (considering) hotel rooms and other options, it’s definitely concerning and speaks to the need for those 24/7 safe spaces and to ensure that somebody has a safe place to be when we’re seeing those extreme weather circumstances,” said Duncan.

The councillor said he believes the city’s additional recent efforts to help unsheltered people during extreme weather will serve as a step in the right direction. Council set aside $1 million this year to expand service at safe spaces, add a temporary backup shelter location (in case a building fails) and start a pilot project that helps move vulnerable people from bus shelters to safe spaces.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga