Province needs out-of-the-cold response for homeless now, says head of Saint John non-profit

The province needs to speed up its winter response for Saint John's homeless population, the head of a local non-profit says, following a number of deaths last year.

"Speed is of the essence. People are cold," said Melanie Vautour.

"We're seeing five to 10 people every morning at our door because they're freezing from having been outside the night before."

She said most people take it for granted that it's getting colder. 

"But if you were outside 23 hours a day, it's especially cold overnight to be sleeping on the ground, sleeping on benches.… Winter is actually here now for our people who are living outside, and we're still one to two months behind." 

Three deaths in encampment fires between January and April sparked a public outcry and demands for decision-makers to find solutions. Since then, the city and province have taken steps to tackle the municipality's crisis, with plans for modular housing and encampment "green zones" on the horizon. 

But the number of people sleeping rough in the city has grown since then and temperatures are dropping.

Cara Coes, the city's community support services manager, said at a recent common council meeting that the province is in discussions to add an additional 40 to 60 shelter beds to the city during its out-of-the-cold response. The province, however, has not made any formal announcements.

City of Saint John spokesperson Erin White said the city currently has 88 shelter beds between Coverdale Centre for Women and Outflow Ministry's shelter.

She said last year's provincial winter response provided 40 beds. 

CBC News contacted the province's Department of Social Development and was told minister Jill Green was not available for an interview because the province is in a writ period leading up to the election.

The department did not answer questions about when a shelter will be announced or the number of beds that will be available. 

According to the Human Development Council's dashboard for Saint John, 224 people experienced chronic homelessness on at least one day during the month of August, up from 162 last November.

The city has seen an average of about 37 "newly homeless" people per month since January and an average of 21 people per month being housed or "leaving homelessness."