Edmonton’s homeless population is struggling to take shelter as extreme cold weather rolls its way into the province.
Boyle Street Community Services has seen 300 people coming through its doors every day since the holiday season started, an ‘uptick’ in demand from previous years, spokesperson Elliott Tanti told CBC News Wednesday.
“We’re pushing it…our capacity. This year’s been particularly challenging because of how many people we’ve seen through our doors.” – Elliott Tanti, Boyle Street Community Services
Temperatures were expected to plummet across the province Wednesday night in Edmonton and much of north and central Alberta.
The cold snap started on Christmas Eve and will continue into the New Year, Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak told CBC News Wednesday.
In its 2016 homelessness count, the Homeless Hub estimated 1,752 people were living without a home in Edmonton.
Extreme temperatures life-threatening to homeless community
When staff at Boyle Street Community Services got word of the cold snap on Christmas Eve, they started alerting everyone they could find through social media posts and announcements over their sound system in the shelter.
“It can come as quite a shock especially … if it happens quite suddenly, as we saw,” Tanti said.
For those that do not hear the message directly, they will often hear it from their peers. Tanti said the homeless community has a “resiliency” during the winter months.
But the message alone is not enough to help the homeless prepare for quick changes in weather patterns. Not having thicker socks and jackets, Tanti said, can result in homeless people getting hypothermia and frostbite to their extremities.
Sometimes, the homeless cannot find a place to spend the night. Homeward Trust CEO Susan McGee said that is when it starts to get dangerous.
“They find a shed, a garage to sleep in … and they think it’s going to be safe enough for them, but in these temperatures, it definitely is not,” McGee said Wednesday.
‘This kind of temperature is life-threatening to anybody, let alone somebody with no place to live.’ – Susan McGee, Homeward Trust
“This kind of temperature is life-threatening to anybody, let alone somebody with no place to live.”
Hope Mission’s 24/7 crisis diversion team receives up to 30 calls on average per shift for assistance from the Edmonton police and concerned citizens, Hope Mission spokesperson Robin Padanyi said.
On one call, volunteers found a homeless man walking through Edmonton’s back alleys barefoot.
While Hope Mission has not yet reached capacity, Padanyi said hundreds are staying in the shelter overnight and many more are taking advantage of the rooms at the shelter during the day.
Central LRT station a ‘back-up plan’ for emergencies
The city’s backup plan is to keep the Central LRT station open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to serve as a last-resort shelter during extreme cold weather.
Homeward Trust is supposed to call an extreme weather emergency when temperatures drop below -40 degrees and shelters are at more than 90 per cent occupancy.
“It’s anticipated local shelters will be able to handle demand for beds during most, if not all, extreme weather events,” the city said in a press release last week.
“We’ve had experiences in our city when consistently the shelters have been full and there isn’t enough room,” McGee said.
She said the city should continue to focus on creating long-term housing solutions for Edmonton’s homeless population, which would further decrease the need of an emergency backup plan.
Despite the wave of Arctic air blowing through the city in the last couple days, the city has not yet given the green light to keep the LRT station open overnight.