| Dermot Baldwin, executive director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre, predicts the shelter may have to turn away as many as 300 people by November because the burgeoning homeless problem is outpacing the number of beds available.
During an early cold snap between September 14 and 17 Baldwin’s shelter turned away an average of 86 people per night because it was completely out of room. In August, one of the warmest months of the year, the Drop-In Centre housed an average of 1,046 people. This was only 54 beds under capacity.
Baldwin says the province has promised more operational funding if the Drop-In Centre could find another building to house the homeless, but he says the city is actively blocking the creation of any new homeless shelters downtown.
"It’s a nightmare," says Baldwin of the shelter crunch. He adds that the Drop-In Centre has opened up its hallways, linen closets and storage rooms to create space for extra beds on its busiest nights, but it can’t accommodate more than 1,100 people at one time.
"The last dozen years we’ve not had to turn people away, but we’ve maxed out totally. Eleven hundred people a night is just nuts," he says. "I feel so awful and… it’s beyond cruel, because the city with the resources and facilities and everything they have at their disposal are refusing to do anything to address the problem."
Baldwin has been pushing for months to build a sobering centre that would house intoxicated homeless people next to the Drop-In Centre but city council has opposed the idea because the city is planning to redevelop the area. In March, Baldwin gave the city 90 days notice that the Drop-In Centre would stop taking in more than 1,100 people as of June 1. The city still hasn’t come up with a plan to look after the homeless people who are turned away, he says.
Mayor Dave Bronconnier has stated that he’s opposed to more homeless shelters and instead wants to see longer-term solutions. Baldwin says he’s also in favour of longer-term solutions but in the meantime the city needs to address an emergency situation.
"If the only answer they have is to block and obstruct, how good is that?" he asks.
He says he’s "extraordinarily worried’ about what will happen this winter.
"We know that by November we’re in deep, deep trouble. People who are harder core stay out longer and don’t want to come to places like this until it becomes unbearable," says Baldwin. "It’s going to be a horrific winter for people."
He says even if no one freezes to death "in some cases frostbite will mean they’ll lose fingers, hands, feet or legs."
Baldwin says he fears that Calgarians are starting to care less about the homeless problem even though it’s getting bigger.
"We are all getting hardened and immune to the needs of these people," he says. "I wish more people would speak up and… debate what constitutes decency in this city…. In the wealthiest city in the country there’s something really disjointed and extraordinarily cruel about this."
John TeLinde, manager of research, policy and planning for the City of Calgary says city administration has been actively working with social agencies to come up with a winter response plan.
"We certainly share their concerns and are working with them," he says. "We’ve been looking for what might be some temporary solutions."
TeLinde says another permanent shelter isn’t the answer.
"The bottom line is providing people with a more permanent place to stay. We’re not in the business of warehousing folks… In the short-term we may need to put people up in another shelter-like facility."
TeLinde says he doesn’t know when the winter response plan will be in place. |
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