| The city has opened a new, temporary emergency shelter for 100 to 125 homeless people at the EMS station in Whitehorn to get people through the early April cold snap. However, there’s no plan to house potentially hundreds of homeless people who will be without shelter after this time.
The city opened a temporary shelter at the former Brick furniture store on 16th Avenue North in January to house up to 300 homeless people. The shelter closed on March 31 because the building will soon be demolished to make way for road widening. All existing homeless shelters have been operating at or over capacity since last fall.
Dermot Baldwin, executive director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre says his shelter had to turn away "large numbers" of people on April 1, the first day the temporary shelter at the Brick had been closed. He says it’s the first time the Drop-In Centre had to start turning people away during the day because it was full.
"It’s bloody awful," says Baldwin. "We’ve been at capacity since November of last year. It’s a no-win situation for us. We’ve got staff who are quitting because they can’t take the stress anymore." He says homeless clients are "scared" and Calgary has "become a hellhole in the way things ought to be working for poor people."
For the first time the Calgary Drop-In Centre locked its doors on April 1 to control the crowd of people trying to get in after it was full. "People were fearful and reacting to it and scared that they were going to be put out in the cold," says Baldwin. He says on April 1 the Drop-In Centre also prepared 400 extra bag lunches due to increased demand.
Wayne Stewart, executive director of the Calgary Homeless Foundation says it’s unfortunate that there are so many obstacles that hinder plans to look after the homeless. Often, zoning changes are required, which can take months and community members regularly oppose homeless shelters in their neighbourhoods, he says. "It’s not only that there’s no more room at the Inn (existing homeless shelters). It’s that the innkeepers – and I’m talking about communities – have locked the door," he says.
Diana Schwenk, development director of the Mustard Seed, says her shelter also had to turn away people on April 1, which was very distressing. She says she watched snow cover a man who was sleeping outside the facility. "I think it’s pretty obvious that we do need another permanent shelter for the time being and it’s something that could be phased out when affordable housing came in," she says. "I would hate to be pointing the fingers anywhere, because I really believe that all three levels of government need to be involved and the community as well."
She says Calgarians who are concerned about homelessness should speak out about the issue before upcoming provincial and federal elections. "Be a voice for those who don’t have a voice," she says. |
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