High demand for emergency shelters in Winnipeg as temperatures drop
The demand for emergency shelters is high as people experiencing homelessness are desperate to escape the cold. With temperatures plummeting, more beds are now being added.
Philip Matthews sits on a mattress inside of St. Boniface Street Links temporary shelter on St. Mary's Road – a reprieve from the bitter cold outside.
Matthews and his partner, who is pregnant, found themselves without a place to live in December. As the temperature dipped this week, they had to spend a night outside.
"It's stressful. I don't have words for it," he told CTV News.
Matthews is among the several people who made it to St. Boniface Street Links shelter which opened on Monday, and quickly filled up. The space, partially funded by the city, has room for around 20 people.
"We have been busy every single day since the extreme weather hit. We've been full before 2 p.m. every single day," said Marion Willis, founder of St. Boniface Street Links.
Other emergency shelters are also filling up due to the cold.
"It's definitely a much more challenging time for those we support," said Cindy Titus with Main Street Project. "Our emergency shelter has a bed capacity of about 120 people. We definitely reach capacity early in the evening."
With the need greater than the space available and the dangerously cold weather, the city and End Homelessness Winnipeg also provided funding for a winter pop-up shelter running at Siloam Mission.
"The City of Winnipeg has been working with our shelter partners to create some of those pop-up shelters and to make sure there is support for those living unsheltered," said Lisa Gilmour, assistant chief for community risk reduction with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.
For the third winter, the Sabe Peace Walkers are setting up a camp outside Thunderbird House, which includes a fire pit and tipi where people can warm up.
"Maybe we can help them find somewhere safe to go for the night, maybe they can sit around the fire, eat some food, sometimes families bring donations," said Cofounder Rylee Nepinak.
The city also offers leisure centres and libraries as places to warm up during regular operating hours.
The city said transit inspectors who come across people in bus shelters do provide information about emergency shelters that are open and call emergency crews if that's needed. If a bus driver spots someone sleeping in one, they are asked to notify transit's control centre so inspectors or emergency personnel can respond.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Norovirus spreading at 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada
Norovirus is spreading at a 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada, specifically, in Ontario and Alberta, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Weather system that caused deadly U.S. tornadoes heads north to Canada, bringing rain and snow
The same storm system that brought deadly tornadoes to parts of the U.S. is heading north, hammering some Canadian provinces with rain and snow, according to latest forecasts.
'Deeply unhappy' grocery shoppers plan to boycott Loblaw-owned stores in May
A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum online, with what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.
These two chemists were friends for decades. A DNA test revealed they were actually cousins
Jim Arner was always interested in genealogy and discovering more about his ancestry. But after submitting his own DNA test, he learned an old work colleague was actually a distant cousin.
McGill University says pro-Palestinian demonstrators 'refuse' to collaborate, encampment violates policies
McGill University says the growing encampment on its lower field in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza violates its policies.
French actor Gerard Depardieu in police custody, legal team says
French actor Gérard Depardieu has been taken into police custody in Paris to face questioning, his lawyer told CNN Monday.
U.S. CDC says it's identified 1st documented cases of HIV transmitted through cosmetic needles
Three women diagnosed with HIV after getting 'vampire facial' procedures at an unlicensed medical spa are believed to be the first documented cases of people contracting the virus through a cosmetic procedure using needles.
Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on U.S. roads
On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board.
Health minister 'deeply appreciative' of doctors but capital gains changes here to stay
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.