New temporary day shelter opens in downtown Yellowknife

After weeks of planning and construction, Yellowknife's new temporary day shelter opened Monday.

The facility can house 45 people at a time, and users will not be required to show proof they've been vaccinated against COVID-19.

In a written statement Monday afternoon, Julie Green, the minister of health and social services, described the shelter as a "spacious and modern retrofit" of modular structures that had been brought in from the camp for the construction of theTcho All Season Road.

The shelter sits at the old Northern Frontier Visitors Centre location on 49 Street. It will operate seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Green said the day shelter and sobering centre on 50 Street is still open, but has reduced capacity due to public health orders.

Businesses stepped up

Green thanked the many businesses that helped get the shelter operational. They include Kavanaugh Bros Ltd., which helped to lead the project; and GNS Industrial Trailer Services Ltd. and Kiewit Construction, which transported the modular units.

Other businesses that worked on the project include Kasteel Construction and Coatings, Stantec, DT Electric, J&R Mechanical, North of 60 Construction, and Commercial NDS.

Green also thanked the City of Yellowknife for letting the Yellowknife Community Arena be used as a temporary shelter until the new one was complete.

In mid-November,Peter Houweling, the co-owner of Kavanaugh Brothers Ltd., told CBC the project has been "surreal" but contractors came together to support it even dropping other projects because they knew how much of a priority this one was. They also overcame worker shortages and a lack of materials to pull the shelter together.

"All the little changes and sacrifices that get made behind the scenes are always the important ones," he said at the time.

Part of 'a continuum of care'

Green described the opening of the new day shelter as part of the N.W.T. government's commitment to reconciliation, and pointed to a survey the City of Yellowknife did in 2021 that showed 91 per cent of the 312 people experiencing homelessness in the city are Indigenous and most had at least one parent who attended residential school, or had attended residential school themselves.

"We cannot ignore the tragic impacts of residential schools, the damaging effects of which are still felt today. Caring for and providing essential services to people experiencing addictions and homelessness is part of advancing reconciliation for survivors and their families," Green stated.

"We see this new facility as part of a continuum of care as we work toward opening a permanent Wellness and Recovery Centre in Yellowknife in early 2024."

The territory estimates the new shelter has cost about $250,000 to set up, and will cost $175,000 per month to operate.