Brandon's Samaritan House gets $172K to run emergency shelter year-round

People experiencing homelessness in Brandon will now have a safe haven available to them year-round.

Samaritan House Ministries is getting more than$172,000 in provincial funding toallow its Safe and Warm shelter in the southwestern Manitoba cityto stay open in the summer months, as opposed to closing in the late spring and reopening in the fall when temperatures drop.

"It's wonderful. We're so thankful that the province has come along side of us, that they want to support us and keep us open," saidBarbara McNish, executive director of SamaritanHouse Ministries.

"It's one year at a timebut I know that our government is hoping to continue this full-time funding on more than just the one-year basis."

Samaritan House has been collecting data on how many people in Brandonhave usedan emergency shelter, in order to show the need for the resource year-around, said McNish.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated the issue, as limits on how many people can be indoors have forced more people outside. That helped in getting more funding too,she added.

$750K raised for needed renovations

The pandemic also meantmany organizations and buildings had to look at upgrading their facilitiesin order to allow for better air flow and more spacing, for example. Samaritan House was no exception.

The building's HVAC system needed an upgrade and its roof neededto be replaced. But once contractors and engineers came to inspect the building, they listed a series of other required changes before it metstandards, said McNish.

"What we started as a roof replacement project became a renovation projectand ended up with just overa million-dollar project," she said.

"We went, 'Take a breath. OK, Lord, let's see what we're going to do.'"

Samaritan House applied for various grants and to agencies that hadCOVID-19 relief funds. Various businesses and donors chipped in as well and the non-profit has raised about $750,000 of the required funds, said McNish.

She hopes that the upgrades to the shelter will be done within days, but the roof won't be started until the weather changes.