Homeless shelters brace for cold weather
Posted Dec 16, 2009 04:09:08 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Temperatures tonight and tomorrow with the windchill are expected to drop to around -20 and with the extreme cold homeless shelters in the city will have a challenge getting people off the streets.
Claudia Jahn, the program director with the Community Action on Homelessness says the Turning Point shelter is out of room. It’s the city’s largest with 80 beds.
“This shelter is full on a regular basis now, the women’s shelter is almost the same,” says the program director with the community action on homelessness about the Turning Point shelter.
Wayne MacNaughton with the St. Matthews United Church shelter says their near capacity every night.
He says more shelter beds shouldn’t be the focus.
“I’d say there’s a big need for more affordable housing,” says MacNaughton.
“I mean obviously we need to keep up with the number of people needing shelter, emergency shelter right now because affordable housing doesn’t happen instantaneously.”
He says a shortage of affordable housing is the main cause of homelessness, along with support programs for those with mental illness.
