'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.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s provincial budget, school divisions in Saskatchewan were expecting funding levels to increase, with the province repeatedly touting its $1 billion surplus.
A 2021 court order to remove Lighthouse Supported Living Inc. director Don Windels from the organization has been overturned by the Saskatchewan appeal court.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
The Alberta legislature wrapped up its spring sitting Thursday with politicians on both sides of the aisle test-driving insults and expected attack lines ahead of the scheduled May 29 provincial election.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
Friends of Camille Maheux are trying to assemble some of her life's work. The 76-year-old photographer was killed in the Old Montreal fire and her photographs and negatives were destroyed.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Ottawa on a foggy Thursday evening, kicking off a whirlwind two-day visit to the capital. Ottawa police and the city of Ottawa have warned residents and visitors will see an increased police presence across the downtown core, and there will be "significant traffic and transit disruptions" during the visit.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
The rate of snow and rain falling in the Maritimes will pick up late Thursday afternoon into evening as a weather system makes its way across the region.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
When a former detective with the Vancouver Police Department discovered photos of his home were being used in a rental scam, he decided to start his own investigation.
The federal government is contributing $12.5 million to the construction of a healing centre at the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation almost two years after the nation announced the discovery of 215 suspected unmarked graves near a former residential school.
A Victoria man’s life of crime has turned into one of survival, hope and advocacy amid ongoing conversations in the community about how best to tackle public safety matters.
