Charlottetown homeless shelter sees number of stays triple since 2012

Ahomeless shelter for men in Charlottetown has seen a significantincrease in the number of people in need of its services overthe last few years.

Maj.DanielRoode, of the Salvation Army,said when the organizationtook over the shelter six years ago there were typically 300 to 400 stays in a year.

In 2017, the number of stays more than tripled to over 1,200.

"So we've seen definitely in the last few years a significant increase in the usage of our service."

Unemployment, addiction

Roodesaidthe lack of affordable housing is having an impact on the number ofpeople seeking help. But he also attributesunemploymentandaddiction issuesas factors.

"In order to help folks who are experiencing homelessness, ittakes a community and various aspects of services toholistically address the total need," he said.

With winter setting in early, another groupis hoping to open a temporaryshelterfor women in the cityby January.

"We're trying to secure a space we've had a couple people come through and offer support and try to fill this," said Liz Corney, one of the co-founder's of Blooming House.

'Working on it'

"We don't have a definite location yet but we're definitely working on it," she said.

Corney said the temporary shelter would run for four months and have up to 15 beds for women.

She said the long-term goal would be to opensomething more permanent.

There is only one women's homeless shelter on P.E.I. located in Lennox Island.

Staff there say they're seeing more people in need as well.

While there are few options for women in Charlottetown, Anderson House, a shelter for women leaving violence at home,does set aside a couple of beds for homeless women.

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