Yellowknife still has a severe shortage of shelter beds, advocates say

Shelter operators in Yellowknife are sounding the alarm about potential shelter overcrowding and exposure deaths, as a longstanding shortage of beds continues as temperatures drop. 

The territorial government told CBC on Tuesday that they estimate 30 to 60 people are sleeping outside in Yellowknife right now. 

The Yellowknife Salvation Army recently obtained funding from the territorial government to add eight new beds at its men's shelter, bringing their total capacity from 31 people to 39. Those beds are expected to open in the coming week.

Executive director Tony Brushett said he is grateful for the funding, which will also allow the organization to hire a new staff member to support the additional residents — but said those eight beds won't even address the current demand.

The men's shelter is already turning away around 15 people each night, he said, some of whom have resorted to sleeping in dumpsters outside the Salvation Army thrift store. He said he worries one of those people could die during the night, especially as weather gets colder.

"It's awful to think that this is the way people were sleeping this morning," he said. 

Renee Sanderson, Executive Director of the Yellowknife Women's Society, said her organization is also struggling to meet the demand at its emergency women's shelter.

The Yellowknife Women's Society is funded for ten emergency shelter beds, but Sanderson said it has been at or over capacity almost every night over the last couple of weeks.

She said it's already having an impact on the quality of service the organization can provide.

"It's so congested. A lot of our service users come with complex needs and it's just not a safe environment," she explained.

Sanderson said to address some safety concerns, her organization has banned certain individuals from the shelter because of "destructive behaviour." They have also stopped allowing shelter users to stay at the facility during the day, in an attempt to ease pressure on staff and transitional housing clients at the women's centre, she said.

"We don't want to turn away vulnerable women at night, that's the last thing we want to do, but because of our current space limitations, we're constrained in how many we can accommodate."

Bushett said the Salvation Army men's shelter won't expand its capacity by more than the eight beds it has already added because of how serious the violence at the shelter was last year.

But he worries that without shelter beds for all of those who are sleeping outside, people may die.