Groups that support homeless Winnipeggers working to open pop-up shelter as winter approaches

Agencies serving Winnipeg's homeless community are working together to provide a pop-up shelter during extreme cold this winter.

"Winter is going to be arriving this week, so we are quickly preparing for that," said Cindy Titus, a communications specialist with Main Street Project, on Tuesday, a day ahead of the city's first snowfall of the season.

Main Street Project is one organization participating in the Extreme Weather Response Committee, which is implementing the pop-up shelter as part of its winter response plan. The committee is a collective of 40 community stakeholders that puts together annual response plans to meet the needs of community members during extreme weather. 

The new pop-up shelter will serve as an overflow for existing shelters when they hit maximum capacity during particularly harsh weather. 

"Every winter, extreme weather and cold is a concern for people experiencing homelessness. They are at greater risk of cold-related illnesses such as hypothermia and frostbite," said Titus.

This year's plan identifies four community organizations that will be part of the pop-up shelter: Main Street Project, Siloam Mission, 1 Just City and Sunshine House. Each agency will hire two staff who will be able "to mobilize to open the shelter" quickly when needed, the plan says.

It's not yet clear where the pop-up shelter will be located, what specific services will be provided or if the needed staff are already hired.

Siloam Mission spokesperson Luke Thiessen said he can't share any specific details on the pop-up plan yet, as they have not been released internally.

But the hope is to "help provide more space and maximize the space that we have in order to go above and beyond just our overnight shelter beds, [so] that people will be able to have warm and safe spaces to go," he said.

In emails to CBC on Wednesday, Sunshine House and Main Street Project also declined to comment on the pop-up shelter or provide details regarding staffing or the shelter's location.

Sunshine House stated that there a joint announcement with details will be made "in the coming days or weeks."

However, the response plan says funding for the pop-up has been confirmed through the City of Winnipeg and the federal government's homelessness strategy.

Outreach van returning

The plan also includes other initiatives involving local shelters to provide aid, including the return of the Main Street Project's winter weather outreach van.

"It'll be on the road 24/7 and will offer things like wellness checks on community members and safe transports to shelters and warming centres," said Titus.

The van will provide outreach citywide, working in addition to the current outreach offered by the Main Street Project, the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, St. Boniface Street Links and others. 

Main Street Project could not say when the van will begin service, but said updates will be provided when details are finalized. 

Once operational, the outreach van can be contacted by calling the provincial 211 community, government and social services hotline, which will triage and contact Main Street Project. 

The response plan also says Sabe Peace Walkers — a non-profit team whose members focus on Indigenous-led non-violent crisis interventions — will set up its community care camps for the third year in a row.

The camps, located outside Thunderbird House on Main Street and will run from November to March.

"It's a teepee that's set up," said Victor Mondaca, a manager with Sabe Peace Walkers.

"There's fire that runs 24 hours a day, there's snacks, there's traditional medicine. We have people sometimes that come in and do drumming, so it plays a very big role with the traditional indigenous belief systems."

He says Sabe Peace Walkers usually sets up the camps once temperatures fall to –20 C or lower.

Funding for the pop-up shelter, the outreach van and the community camps has been approved through End Homelessness Winnipeg. The response plan also notes there is a funding stream through the federal homelessness strategy for organizations that provide outreach and drop-in services during extreme weather events.

But individual agencies say they still struggle every winter to meet demands.

"Our outreach services and our emergency shelter serves hundreds of people every day, and often those folks are in need of warm clothing," said Titus.

"We are currently very low on warm clothing. So we are really concerned about being able to meet the needs of the community, especially as winter is upon us this week."