Winnipeg weather: Shelters prepare to respond to cold weather

Shelters in Winnipeg that provide food and housing to homeless people are preparing for winter.

This includes Siloam Mission, which is turning its reception center into a temporary space where people can escape the cold at night.

“About 40 people will be able to access a cot and stay overnight,” Siloam Mission CEO Tessa Blakey Whitecloud said.

“And then everyone else will be in a freer space to sit at tables. There will be hot chocolate and snacks.

The Siloam Mission did something similar last year, which saved an average of 24 people from the cold per night.

The pop-up warming space was staffed through collaboration with other agencies and opened only when the overnight freezing temperatures felt like -10 or below.

“The pop-up was difficult because people experiencing homelessness don’t always check the weather to make sure it’s cold enough,” Blakey Whitecloud said.

Siloam Mission is using this year’s version on its own, and the watch will not be weather-locked.

“We’re really hopeful that our team will be fully operational by Dec. 9, and then once the temperature hits -10, we’ll be open every night until March 31,” Blakey Whitecloud said.

Winnipeg’s response to cold weather continues to be a team effort of many agencies working together under a plan called the Winter Weather Response.

The Main Street Project will have a new vehicle this year.

“The second outreach van is to make sure that if someone is suffering on the street, they are taken to a safe place, they are taken to the warming center, they are taken to our temporary shelter that is operating today,” Anastasia Zipryk said. , Director of Development, Main Street Project Inc.

The Salvation Army says that while they are involved in this important work, what they really need is supportive and affordable housing.

“I know everyone is working really hard on these things,” said Mark Stewart, executive director of the Salvation Army Center of Hope.

“For now we just need to focus on what’s in front of us, which is cold weather and we’ll be here for everyone who needs it.”

Over the next 10 years, the Siloam Mission is working to add 700 to 1,000 new housing units.

“This is a temporary measure that will keep people safe this winter while we work on housing measures for future winters and ensure that we can actually move people into long-term, supportive and stable housing,” Blakey Whitecloud said.

This means that someday the pop-up heating area may not be needed.