Groups gather to co-ordinate housing efforts

Hardlotte was referencing the recent death of 52-year-old Wallace Bird of Montreal Lake who died of exposure on November 6.

His body was found behind a business on 15^th Street East. He had come to Prince Albert for the weekend but did not know where emergency shelter could be found and had no contacts in the city.

He is not the first person to die of the elements in Prince Albert.

As it stands, the YWCA operates many of the services offered to homeless or transient people in the city, including transitional housing for women and children, multiple supportive housing locations (such as Homeward Bound), and Stepping Stones.

CAO Donna Brooks said that of their $15 million annual budget, about $11 million is spent on housing services.

Funding for permanent housing and shelters for women and children is stable, she said, but it is very difficult to get shelter funding for men.

“There’s no guaranteed annual funding for Stepping Stones,” said Brooks. “It only happened this year because we backed the province into a corner.”

Once again, Stepping Stones opened at the Exhibition Grounds but the 30 beds it holds are not enough.

An estimate done yesterday showed that the night before, the shelter was full and another 40 people slept outside.

She estimates the absolute homeless population at about 85 people but it is a constantly changing number.

“Every time we guess, it just gets higher,” she said. “Over the last few years, it’s tripled if not more. Every time you turn around, we’re running into more and more homeless people that are in crisis.”

Brooks said the people gathered at the meeting could likely find grant money to build a shelter relatively easily but finding more money to keep operating is the real challenge.

Operating Stepping Stones for six months, only at night, costs between $450,000 and $500,000 for the winter season.

Operating a year-round, 24-hour-per-day shelter would be cost $1.5 million annually.

That most agencies did not know the complete list of things others might do was apparent as the group members gave brief presentations around the table in what will be the PAGC’s Urban Services Office when it is done renovations.

Hardlotte said the PAGC is hoping to add another 10 beds alongside the Moose Lodge Warming Shelter but they are having a difficult time convincing the City of Prince Albert to change the zoning to allow the overnight stays.

Both the police and Parkland Ambulance deal regularly with homeless people in their different capacities.

Chief Jonathan Bergen said that when they get called, it’s usually from a business or a facility that wants a person removed.

“It’s a really difficult call to manage,” he said. “It’s an eviction but we have nowhere to evict them to.”

Sometimes, the person is placed in a cell as a compassionate gesture, but this is not something the police welcome.

“They aren’t criminals. Homeless people should not be in cells,” Bergen said.

When Parkland Ambulance works with homeless people, they are generally called by members of the public who see someone lying on the ground or they are called by the person themselves.

Either way, they must be responded to, and they are taken to Victoria Hospital, which is itself busy and overwhelmed.

Ambrose said they notice increased calls of that nature when Stepping Stones is not open.

The group will continue meeting.

City council is in the midst of budget discussions but recently heard from a contracted researcher that more coordination is needed to help resolve the homeless population’s growing crisis.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Groups gather to co-ordinate housing efforts

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