At Wiigiwaaminaan Lodge, homeless Indigenous people find shelter and culture

Steve's room at Wiigiwaaminaan Lodge is small, but there are signs that he's tried to make it homey in the four months he's lived here.

There's a bundle of sweetgrass hanging on the wall, and some of his beaded creations are strewn on his desk. Almost everything is packed onto his bed because he's been sweeping and vacuuming to clean up the place.

"A friend of mine told me about this place. It means I can have my life back," said Steve, 58.

CBC has agreed not to use Steve's last name because of the stigma of homelessness and because he has a young daughter with whom he is reconnecting.

He's a big man, but admits to "crying like a baby" the first time he participated in a sweat lodge. "I was in the presence of the ancestors," he said.

Like many who call the Wiigiwaaminaan shelter home, Steve had a difficult childhood that he doesn't like to talk about. A few years ago, he lost his job as a flat roofer and has been struggling with addiction.

"I've seen people come here who are completely down and just lost in their journeys, wondering where they are going and how they are going to navigate not just the experience of homelessness, but their own identity crises," said Terrell King, the cultural coordinator at the Indigenous-led shelter, which is tucked behind Parkwood Hospital on Wellington Road South.

"Just that feeling of not knowing where to go or who they are and what they want to do in life, and coming through these doors and learning the medicines, learning the teachings."

For Steve, that has meant beading, as well as a Friday art class where he paints. "I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone," he said.

After a long time without identification, staff at Wiigiwaaminaan helped Steve obtain paperwork, which now allows him to enter a rehab facility. He was on a waiting list but secured a spot for January.

"I like being here, out of the away. It keeps me away from that stuff, the drugs," he said of the shelter, which is several kilometres from downtown and other major service providers.

Wiigiwaaminaan offers more than just a warm place to stay, King said. "There are always going to be tough moments in people's lives, but we're giving them resources to be able to handle those and navigate situations, and that empowers them when they leave these doors. They know they can take care of themselves."

Many people come with no experience with their culture or any Indigenous ceremonies, King said.

"It's like a fire gets lit underneath them," he said. "The next thing you know, they're at a big Sundance ceremony in the summertime, they're fanning people down, smudging people, helping build the lodge, and really taking pride in that. The journey doesn't end with housing."