CANMORE – In 2022, there was a substantial increase in the use of the outreach and shelter programs of the Homelessness Society of the Bow Valley (HSBV).
That increase, shown by program data, led the HSBV to ask Canmore council for shelter space. Currently, St. Michael’s Anglican Church is used as a housing complex. St. Michael’s has asked the shelter to find a new location for the winter of 2022-23.
Council referred HSBV's request to administration for review and recommendation.
Due to the timeline, however, Mayor Sean Krausert didn't want to wait.
“It doesn’t make sense to me to delay a month when there is only a three-month window when there could be good work being done,” Krausert said.
The outreach program launched on Dec. 6, 2021, and the shelter program began its second season on Feb. 7, 2022. Both programs ran until March 31, 2022. During those 116 nights, 28 different individuals accessed a combined total of 366 bed nights.
This was an increase of 16 individuals over 2021 and the shelter program stayed open 11 nights longer in 2022. The shelter provided 280 more bed nights, with an average of 5.6 guests per night, up .4 guests from 2021. During the 53 nights the shelter operated, it was accessed by guests every night.
“When I received a copy of the program review that was done in June, I was blown away at the good work that was being done and really appreciated that,” Krausert said.
Coun. Joanna McCallum asked if this was the only shelter in the Bow Valley.
“Are we the catchment for Banff, Lake Louise?”
Amber Forest, director of HSBV, said they are working on a system map.
“We are part of a continuum and part of that continuum is the YWCA Banff," she said.
Forest said the shelter received repeat visitors and they began to recognize folks in the community.
“We had a sit-down with people at the end of the shelter program last year and we asked if the shelter program didn’t exist, where would you stay?” Forest said. “The response was typically quite hidden, but they said they would stay in stairwells, camp outside, garbage cans, stay with family.”
Currently, camp cots are set up in the shelter. Ideally, the HSBV is looking for a shared space.
“In an ideal world, we would have some separate space,” Forest said. “We do have people of different genders staying with us, of different backgrounds, so it would ideally be a shared space with a separate space.”
Forest added that having a kitchen would be a bonus for the shelter so that they could heat up food for individuals staying at the shelter.
