Winter homeless shelters close as mercury plunges

Homeless people are being left out in the cold in at leasttwo Alberta cities as funding for temporary winter shelters runs out.

The closure of a temporary shelter in Calgary on Sundaymeant dozens of homeless people likely spent a long cold night walking the streets as snow fell and the temperature plunged to 18 C with the wind chill, say housing advocates.

And in the northern Alberta city of Grande Prairie, a handful of homeless people have been given tents as temperatures fall to 25 C with the wind chill.

"We struggle with whose responsibility it is," said Diana Schwenk, who works at the Mustard Seed, an organization in Calgary that provides food and shelter for the homeless.

"I think we need help from all levels of government, and we need people to sit around a table and talk about what the immediate solution is and get on the same page with that."

Emergency shelter in Calgary closes

In Calgary, the former Brick building on 16th Avenue had been providing shelter forup to300 people a night through the winter, but the shelter closed Sunday to make way for a road widening.

The Drop-In Centre and the Mustard Seed are at full capacity, and officials from both organizations said some people undoubtedly spent Sunday night walking Calgary's streets to stay alive.

Chris Branch, a spokesman with the city, said in an interview last week that if the weather turns cold enough to be life-threatening, emergency shelter will be provided on a night-by-night basis.

'I feel very helpless'

Meanwhile in the northern city of Grande Prairie, one advocate for the homeless was handing out tents, even though there is still snow on the ground.

Funding for a program thatprovided a sleepingmat in a local church through the winter months also ran out on Sunday, one of three temporary programsin the city that wrapped up as the spring season arrived.

The church program was meant to help people who couldn't find a space in Grande Prairie's existing shelters. Now upward of 25 people have no place to go, said organizers.

"I've purchased five tents," said Cathy Twizell, an outreach worker with the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre. "The reality is if they're going to be sleeping in a tent, they're going to be setting it up and sleeping in the cold, because we still have snow here and we're supposed to be getting more snow."

Twizell said people moved to the city to cash in on the oil and gas boom, but instead they found expensive housing costs and a zero vacancy rate.

Barbara Gladue slept on the church floor all winter and is now having to choose between wandering the streets or living in a tent.

"I feel very helpless," she said. "I'm really emotional right now because it's springtime but it's not tent season yet."