Response triggered for city’s vulnerable as Calgary endures cold snap

Calgary is enduring a cold snap as temperatures reach almost – 30 C with the windchill on Wednesday, and is not going to let up until later this week.

Auggie Hunter is walking through the streets to help Calgary’s unhoused community as part of a widespread coordinated effort as vulnerable people become even more at risk due to the cold.

“I know there are people that are very cold. I ran into one gentleman who had frostbite,” Hunter said.

The city and community organizations, including up to 26 outreach teams, are working together this season, a step forward after feedback from last year’s cold months, when problems surrounded congregation at C-Train stations, and still do.

Hunter says she’s still seeing vulnerable people gathering inside the C-Train buildings, places like Franklin, Marlborough, Sunalta, and Lion’s Park Station.

She says it’s because there is no official oversight, along with there being a sense of community and a place where people can access warmth and use substances, something they can’t do in places like shelters or warming spaces.

Patricia Jones, with the Calgary Homeless Foundation, echoes Hunter’s sentiments, adding that intergenerational trauma is playing a role in seeking shelter at a place like the Drop-In Centre or the Alpha House, the former a low-barrier shelter and the latter a detox shelter.

“We failed 30 years ago,” Jones said. “Many of the people out there have had child welfare records, where there was trauma earlier in their life that somehow, as a community, we failed to serve them.”

“And so, we need to do our best to honour them and help them toward a path to recovery as quickly as we can.”

Heating help from the City of Calgary

The city is providing free shuttle busses from C-Train stations to shelters from now until Friday, and a mobile warming station by the Salvation Army will hit the streets Thursday and will be at different LRT stations seven days a week between 1 and 4 p.m.

In addition, the city is opening up additional space from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to alleviate some pressure on shelters – which are around 75 to 80 per cent capacity right now.

Jones says this is “quite innovative” of the city, and is doing her part to help make this work.

“We have stand-up meetings every morning with all of our partners, of which there’s about 10, to say, ‘What happened last night? What’s going on? Where do we need to go differently? How do we need to address this gap?’ Because the people we serve are … not homogenized or not fluid,” Jones said.

“We need to adapt to their reality on a daily basis. And this partnership and collaboration is amazing in how they do that.”

Jones says shelters have barriers, but they’re doing everything they can to make supports more accessible.

“When we go out to the community and ask people experiencing homelessness, sometimes they don’t feel safe. So I know the shelters are working hard on safety. And that’s really critical,” Jones said.

“Some folks are partners or are in relationships … Sometimes people have animals, and I know the city has a partnership with city bylaws to take people’s animals for a night. I know that’s not ideal, but it’s more ideal than sitting outside with your animal when it’s minus 30.

“Some of these situations aren’t ideal, but we’re doing the best we can.”

Related Stories:

• Alberta advocates for treatment of youth opioid addiction

• Effectiveness of Canada’s homelessness strategy unclear: auditor general

• Salvation Army collects winter apparel for Calgarians in need

This year, the Calgary Homeless Foundation is working with outreach teams and expanding coverage.

“As of this week, there’ll be an extra 200 spaces opened up for warming in Calgary that allow people to get warm when they need to,” Jones said.

“We’re in every quadrant of the city, for example. We’re at Dashmesh [Culture Centre] in Martindale. We’re at the women’s centre in the northeast.”

Calgarians can help by donating warm clothing or calling the DOAP team or 9-1-1 if they see someone in distress or in an emergency.

Hunter was once homeless, too – she braves the cold with the compassion she knows is needed.

“Keep trying to bring that hope to them, and let them know that help is out here,” Hunter said.