CANMORE – A community shelter will reopen its doors to continue offering vital services for people in need of housing and other services in the Bow Valley.
The Homeless Society of the Bow Valley (HSBV) – formally known as the Resident Emergency Shelter Temporary (REST) – has started its winter operations at the Scout Hall at 918 Main St. The shelter will have its first night Thursday (Dec. 15) and is expected to continue until March 15 from 9:30 p.m. to about 8 a.m. each night.
“We’re really excited to be open again,” said Amber Forest, the director of HSBV. “We’ve had a great response from our partners.”
The shelter will be open for its third year and the four months will see the largest increase in its operations.
Forest highlighted the demand for the shelter is in need. She said when the shelter was completing its operations last March, many individuals said they would have been left in dire circumstances in finding a place to sleep.
“When we sat down with guests at the end of last year and asked about their experiences, we asked if they hadn’t been staying here where else would you go if those spaces are full, which they frequently are? The response was garbage bins, stairwells, camping outside, couch surfing.”
Last year, 28 unique individuals used the society's services, which led to the shelter being full most nights.
During a recent council meeting, Lisa Brown, the Town’s manager of community social development, noted there were few negative interactions with people in the area of the church and those using the shelter.
“These are individuals who are already living in our communities,” she said. “They’re sleeping in our neighbourhoods right now. We have a bit of a relationship with them through the Family Communities Support Services and many of them just need a warm place.”
The society’s outreach program – which runs separately from the shelter – is also available. Its aim is to connect people with different resources and services
“It depends on the need for the person. It can be connecting with food supports… sometimes they’re just looking for warm blankets or clothes or community resources,” Forest said. “If the conversation goes in the direction of them not having a place to sleep and having no resources, so they’d be outside, we can connect with a hotel or hostel.”
Forest said during the cold snap in November that had temperatures plummeting into the -20s, the program was able to help individuals find shelter in hotels or hostels.
The society has hired more than a dozen outreach workers who work at the shelter and outreach program. There are also additional people who can be on call in case those workers are sick or unable to work.
‘It’s put us in a pretty solid position this year,” Forest said.
The first two years of the program ran at St. Michael’s Anglican Church on 7th Avenue in Canmore.
But the society began looking for a new space when the church returned to its regular programming that had been put on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
HSBV received society status last year which led to it incorporating a board and separate committees to help with organizing aspects of needs.
It received multi-year funding from the Rural Development Network, which saw it use the Town as a fiscal agent. The society will receive $60,000 for 2022-23 and $70,000 in 2023-24. The operational budget is roughly $165,000.
A motion unanimously passed at the November meeting had Mayor Sean Krausert propose halving the rent and making it free from 12 to 6 a.m. to ease the financial burden on the society.
Krausert argued there would be no revenue coming in during the six-hour span and the service ultimately is a community benefit.
Without the motion, it would have cost the society about $5,400 a month or about $180 a month at the non-profit rate. The move helps the society financially, especially as it continues to find its footing and expand at the same time.
A motion by Coun. Joanna McCallum to create summer and winter emergency response plans for people without houses in recommendation for approval at upcoming Dec. 20 budget deliberations.
The budget was set at $7,000 and would be a one-time cost for the Town.
The Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association selected the society as its charity of choice this year, raising more than $50,000. The society will also run fundraisers such as the Coldest Night of the Year walk in February.
While using the Scout Hall provides a space this year, the ultimate goal is to find an area that encompasses all of the needs and hopefully gets to the stage where there is a year-round service to offer.
“It’s a minor expansion. The search continues in looking for an appropriate space that can be more permanent ongoing space and stable ongoing funding. We have received funding, so we’re getting there. … That’s the dream to keep moving towards that stable funding, keep moving towards that permanent space and eventually, down the road, year-round programming shelter.”
Anyone wanting to reach out to the society for information on the shelter or outreach program can contact it at 403-493-3771, by email at [email protected] or its Facebook page. All three are monitored from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
