Fountain provides drinking water vital to Edmonton's homeless

One of the toughest things about life on the street for Raphael Belle is finding fresh drinking water on hot summer days.

"That feeling is horrible," Belle, 52, said Wednesday.

Withoutshelter of his own, andlacking easy access to buildings where there are fountains, it's more difficult to find drinking waterthan most people realize, he said.

But this summer Belle doesn't have to go very far.

A new drinking water fountain means he can fill up his Tim Hortons coffee cup with fresh water any time he visits Boyle Street Community Services at 101st Street and 105th Avenue. Belle, who's fighting an addiction and has been homeless for four years, gets help from the programs offered there.

The fountain was installed in June in thealley behindthe building.

"This water fountain is a really big thing because we need water close by us because we get dehydrated very fast. This water fountain is a blessing," Belle said.

The fountainfills a critical need for the city's most vulnerable people.

"People don't realize dehydration and overheating can be just as dangerous to your health as being cold and freezing," said Julian Daly,executive director at Boyle Street.

During last year's scorching Edmonton summer, some homeless people got so badly dehydrated they had to be rushed to hospital, Daly said.

"In fact, every summer we've had to send people to the emergency room as a result of dehydration, but last summer was particularly bad because it was particularly hot," he said.

Anonymous donor saw a way she could help

It was after reading the stories about homeless people needing emergency help for dehydration that a St. Albert woman came forward with a donation to pay for the water fountain.

She doesn't want anyone to know her name but Dalysaid her gesture is making a big difference to many.

"She was very upset to see that people couldn't get access to water in our city, so she made a generous donation which completely paid for the installation of the water fountain. It's a nice gesture," he said.

With many homeless people living withsubstance abuse issues and underlying health challenges such as diabetes, nurse educator Mathew Wong said sometimes people don't even know their body needs water before it's too late.

He said the water fountain can help prevent a number of health problems as well as giving people access to a necessity most of us take for granted.

"It also empowers people;they can take control of their own health. They don't have to worry about going to ask this person for a glass of watergoing and begging for something," said Wong.

Rescue vans hand out bottled water around the clock in Edmonton. The Hope Mission alone handed out 4,500 bottles of water in June, July and August of 2015.

The same van distributed 2,000 bottles of water last month alone.

Several inner-city agencies distributebottled water from their programs as well, butDaly said the fountain should cut down on the need for so many plastic bottles. It also allows people to get drinking water outside ofoffice hours.

Since the fountain was installed, medical staff at Boyle Street have not had to deal with any dehydration emergencies.

Belle said the location of the fountain makes it convenient for many who are downtown oftento access other community services.

He said people drink right from the fountain or bring bottles and cups they fill up to use throughout their day.

"It makes a lot of difference because it's close by, it's right there."

gareth.hampshire@cbc.ca

@cbcgareth