Overnight pop-up shelter to open this winter

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This article was published 15/11/2023 (695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new winter pop-up shelter aims to prevent vulnerable Winnipeggers who need a warm place to stay from being turned away when all other spaces are full.

The shelter will be located at Siloam Mission — and staffed by Siloam, 1JustCity, Main Street Project and Sunshine House staff — to help cope with increased demand on cold nights, which the charity organizations say often exceeds their resources.

“As an organization offering a pop-up shelter in the winter months, where the number of people on our waiting list each night exceeds our capacity, we know more (space) is needed. One of the most heart-wrenching tasks our shelter staff experiences is to turn someone back out into the cold because we are full, particularly after phone calls to other shelters, finding they, too, are full,” Glynis Quinn, executive director of 1Just City, said Wednesday.

When activated, the pop-up shelter will be open from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., providing an escape from the cold, along with snacks, coffee and activities, such as games and art kits.

Opening dates will be decided about three days in advance, when overnight temperatures are expected to “feel like” -10 C or colder, all other local emergency shelters are full and a minimum of four staff are available to work.

“As the weather gets colder, one of the biggest challenges that we can have… is getting people out of Transit shelters and out of encampments and into warm, safe places, where they can be connected to appropriate supports,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

While the group could not provide an exact number of people who were turned away when space wasn’t available in the current shelter system last winter, End Homelessness Winnipeg said it is a common occurrence.

For example, 215 people sought help at the 24-7 warming space at N’Dinawemak — Our Relatives’ Place at one point last weekend, which has just 130 beds, said Jason Whitford, EHW chief executive officer.

Last winter, Main Street Project’s outreach van was used multiple times to drive vulnerable people around in search of shelter space, which wasn’t always successful, said Jamil Mahmood, MSP executive director.

Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of Siloam Mission, said the pop-up shelter is expected to help about 90 more people during winter weather, which adds to a combined capacity of about 700 at other local shelters and warming spaces.

Demand at Siloam reached capacity in September, and has remained high since, underlining an urgent need for more space, Blaikie Whitecloud said.

“We are actually anticipating that, once we open, we won’t close until March 31.”

While extreme weather warnings in Winnipeg are typically tied to colder, deep-freeze conditions, Blaikie Whitecloud said it’s safer to set the threshold of temperatures feeling like -10 C or colder.

“A lot of loss of life happens in those lower numbers of -10… You might not think it’s (that) cold, (so) you might not be in a position to be as protected against the weather.”

Blaikie Whitecloud said she’s “very hopeful” the added spaces will be enough to avoid turning away those seeking shelter, though some may choose to remain in temporary encampments and the level of need is expected to grow in the coming months.

“I know that if we don’t build (more) housing supply, next year this won’t be enough,” she said.

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The City of Winnipeg will pay $200,000 to support the program, while End Homelessness Winnipeg will provide $65,000 of its federal funding to address homelessness. The city’s contribution is part of a broader $1-million plan to assist the vulnerable community during extreme weather.

The city’s extreme weather plan also aims to fund a 24-7 winter safe space for St. Boniface Street Links.

Winnipeg chief administrative officer Michael Jack said city staff hope space can open up by early December at 604 St. Mary’s Rd., a site Street Links used as an emergency shelter during several extremely cold nights last winter.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.