More homeless turning to Sask. shelters in extreme cold

Homeless support services and sheltersin Regina and Saskatoon say more people are seeking refuge after the sudden arrival of extreme cold temperatures this week.

Cold weather warnings were issued for much of southern and central Saskatchewan Friday night, forecasting temperatures as low as 30 C, withbiting wind chills of 40 C or colder.

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About 45 people stayed at the The Lighthouse Supported Living emergency shelter in Saskatoon on Friday night.

In September, the province cracked down on the shelter's increasing use of emergency access per diems from the Ministry of Social Services.Some members of the homeless community said at the time they had to sleep outside because they could not get funding to access the shelter.

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But frontline manager Leanne McIntyre said the Lighthouse had a policy not to turn anyone away in extreme cold weather conditions.

"Right now we're just allowing everybody in, regardless of funding or the situation that they seem to be in, in their personal life, they're able to come in and spend the night," said McIntyre.

"We don't want anybody sleeping out in the cold."

In Regina, some people were turned away at the YWCA My Aunt's Place women and children'sshelter.

Case worker Hadassah Kefas said thefacility often hasto turn people awaybecause it'sfull.

"We just tell them to keep calling every day to see if something opens up," she said.

"The cold, there is definitely an increase in the number of phone calls that we get."

In situations where the YWCA cannot offer a bed, Kefassaid the sheltertries to refer the person to another shelter that has beds available.

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If that fails, they contact Mobile Crisis Services, whose mandate is to make sure nobody is forced to sleep on the street.

Jan Thorson, the assistant executive director at the service, said there hasnever been a situation in which they've been unable to find someone a bed.

However, she said demand for her service issteadily increasing, with the number of calls received in 2016 up by 5,000 compared with2014.

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The service is projecting a total of 28,000 calls by the end of the year.

"I think the downturn in the economy has had a lot to do with it," she said.

"And we don't just deal with financial issues of course, we deal with a broad range of social problems so everything from mental health issues and addictions to child welfare and domestic violence."

Strategy helps find beds

She said a "cold weather strategy" implemented two years ago is helping to meet increasing demand during this week's freezing temperatures.

The strategy takes a collaborative approach to finding beds in extreme cold weather, involving police, shelters and the Ministry of Social Services.

"The cold came upon us really suddenly and last year we had a very clement winter so there wasn't great demand for the cold weather strategy last year," said Thorson.

"But this year all of the shelters planned well ahead to make sure that they have extra capacity so they rise to the challenge as soon as the demand is there."

Thorson said her organization is seeking more funding because it had not increased with the rising demand.

The Lighthouse in Saskatoon is seeking donations of mitts, tuques, gloves and boots to keep its clients warm.

The YWCA shelter benefits from financial donations to help provide for their clients.