'We don't turn anyone away': How organizations are helping Winnipeg's most vulnerable during cold snap
'We don't turn anyone away': How organizations are helping Winnipeg's most vulnerable during cold snap
An extreme cold warning is in effect for Winnipeg, and as temperatures dip to dangerous levels, some shelters are at – or even over – capacity.
“We’re managing with a whole lot of help from our friends… and I have to say there’s been area churches, service organizations, individuals that have stepped up all throughout our coverage area,” Marion Willis, St. Boniface Street Links executive director, told CTV News.
St. Boniface Street Links pop-up shelter is open 24/7, has rooms for up to 20 people, and guests don’t have to leave during the day.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” Willis explained. “We may not have a mattress for everybody, but you know, we have a couch… seating area… you can play crib, play cards, just sit and visit.”
Willis said people access shelters for a myriad of reasons, but during cold snaps like the one hovering over Winnipeg, there is a commonality to their needs.
“It’s really, really cold out there, and when people get here, they’re really happy to have a quiet, safe, warm place.”
It’s a similar story at Siloam Mission where all 143 beds at the shelter are spoken for.
"We’ve been at capacity for some time now and with the cold snap, that usually just means more people on the waiting list, more people where we’re trying to find other places to go once we know we’re full up for the night,” Luke Thiessen, Siloam’s communication manager, told CTV News.
Despite these two shelters being at capacity, Thiessen said there are enough beds citywide for unsheltered people.
"But they might not be in the right place, might not be set up with the right tools for the people that need that,” Thiessen said.
Thiessen added the choice of where people experiencing homelessness spend the night can be a complicated matter.
"A lot of factors play into that – but I think that whether it’s not knowing what’s available, not feeling comfortable with what’s available, or just temporarily being between places."
One service looking to address that is Manitoba 211.
"If someone sees someone and they say, I don't quite know what to do, if they call us - we can dispatch or connect to an outreach van either through a warm transfer or warm handoff, and those trained professionals can go help the individual with whatever needs they have,” Manitoba 211 director Daniel Leonard told CTV News.
Manitoba 211 is a partnership between the province and United Way that was first introduced during the pandemic. The free service connects callers to several government and community agencies - including organizations like Siloam Mission and St. Boniface Street Links.
"There are so many different outreach vans and programs that are able to help people who are on the street when it’s cold.”
Leonard said that could mean access to shelter, food, or other necessities.
However, emergency services should be contacted if an individual is unresponsive or in medical distress.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The federal budget shows the government's proposed dental-care insurance program will cost more than double what the Liberals originally thought, driving it up by another $7.3 billion over five years.
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Serious money is heading for Canadian industries looking to reduce emissions after the federal government unveiled its answer to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
The federal Liberal government is committing $8.7 million to hold more consultations on Indigenous resource sharing, in a budget that offers relatively little new spending on its reconciliation agenda.
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
Gwyneth Paltrow's highly publicized ski collision trial is shining a spotlight on the unspoken rules that govern behaviour on the slopes. Testimony over the last six days has repeatedly touched on skier's etiquette -- especially sharing contact information after a collision, and ski turn radiuses -- in what experts have said is the most high-profile ski collision trial in recent history.
Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said the city will more than likely continue to follow Health Canada guidelines when it comes to asbestos cement pipes (ACP) that carry drinking water to residents’ homes.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The driver of a pickup truck, a 47-year-old woman, has died after a crash with a tanker on MR55 in the Greater Sudbury community of Lively on Tuesday morning, police say.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Alberta's police watchdog has released more information about an incident at a Red Deer Walmart in which a man who had been reported missing in Calgary was shot by police.
The 22-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a teenager at a Toronto subway station Saturday night has been wanted in Newfoundland for almost two years, CTV News Toronto has learned.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.
Montreal police say they have identified two more victims found in the rubble of a fire in Old Montreal 12 days ago. Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18, are the sixth and seventh victims of the fire.
A Quebec provincial police officer was fatally stabbed Monday night while performing an arrest in Louiseville, west of Trois-Rivieres, Que. The Surete du Quebec (SQ) has confirmed the identity of the officer, Sgt. Maureen Breau, who had been on the force for over 20 years. She was assigned to the post of the MRC de Maskinonge. Another officer was injured during the incident, but their life is not in danger.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
One person is dead after an early morning fire in Kanata, while another person is being treated for smoke inhalation after being rescued from the burning home by a bystander who spotted the fire while driving to the gym.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Almost three years after a man disguised as a Mountie started murdering people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020, the senior RCMP officers and staff involved in the tragic case have all either retired or moved into new jobs.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
New Brunswickers suffering from a mystery neurological disorder are calling for an investigation into potential environmental causes of the health problems they've been living with for more than two years.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend's daughter nearly a decade ago, when the girl would have been just eight years old.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
A Victoria landlord and property management company must pay more than $30,000 in damages and rental reduction to a tenant who complained of exposure to asbestos and excessive noise while their apartment building was renovated.
British Columbia wants a federal government clamp down on prescription rules after thousands of doses of the hyped weight-loss drug Ozempic went to Americans, doled out by a single practitioner in Nova Scotia.
