One man, who wished only to be identified as Brian, is one of what is estimated to be hundreds living homeless in the city, say officials who work with the homeless.

Brian was among nearly 30 people who attended a Christmas dinner at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre for the less fortunate on Wednesday.

Brian spoke candidly, while the warm homey aroma of ham and stuffing pervaded the basement of the centre.

The image was harshly contrasted by the stale reek of liquor on his breath and the dishevelled figures seated around the large dinning table.

"There's nothing here for anybody, look at all of us at the table here. We've got no place to stay," he said, emphasising the point by gesturing to the people around him.

"People here have to go to the post office to get out of the cold. We sleep in the banks, stay in hallways. I've been around the block a few times I know how it is."

Brian said he has been homeless for about a year and his story is not uncommon.

"I lost my family. I lost my daughter and my wife and after that I just started drinking," he said.

Brian said he thinks there should be more emergency housing put into place.

He believes the Women's Centre and the Salvation Army should be expanded.

"They put us on a mat on the floor with 20 other guys. It's just like the drunk tank," Brian said.

A woman also attending the dinner, speaking on the promise of anonymity, said it's too expensive to live in town. She came to Yellowknife six years ago and has been on the street for four-and-a-half years.

Working on and off she was eventually kicked out of her apartment because she couldn't make her rent.

"I find it expensive. Just me alone it is $550 and other places are $1,400," she said.

"Not everybody's rich."

She also said that the belief that addictions are the root cause of homelessness is incorrect.

In many cases, she said, the homelessness came first.

Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition

For almost three years a coalition of community organizations has been working to combat the growing homeless problem in Yellowknife.

Made up of territorial government departments, the city, social programing groups, aboriginal groups and a variety of not-for-profit organizations, a few local initiatives have already been undertaken.

Working with $1.5 million, coalition chair Karen Hoeft said, they have had to be creative while working within a limited budget.

A good chunk of that money, $941,000, was spent on capital projects.

Included in that figure is a contribution to the North Slave Housing Corporation for the construction of a subsidized housing complex on 54th Street.

They assisted with an addition to the SideDoor Youth Centre and have provided money for a down payment for a transitional housing unit for the YWCA.

As well $288,000 has gone towards community programs and services, $183,000 to community planning and $100,000 for administration.

Despite the money being spent, Hoeft said, fighting homelessness is complicated.

Although there are no concrete numbers, evidence suggests that over the last number of years the homeless rate in Yellowknife has been on the rise.

At the Salvation Army, which provides temporary, emergency shelter to men, occupancy has jumped from an average 12 to 14 people a night to last month's average of 42. Capacity at the Salvation Army is 20 beds.

A similar increase has been experienced at the women's centre, where capacity is 16 beds and they have been struggling to accommodate 24 people nightly.

According to Hoeft, there is also a hidden number of youth age 16 to 18 adding to the city homeless (called couch surfers) who stay with friends. The social housing situation is so crowded right now that single adults who cannot afford market-priced housing have few options.

"Single men don't even bother, they don't even put them on the list," said Hoeft.

It's a harsh reality but there are not many advantages for single women either.

The priority is being given to families and even many of them cannot be accommodated.

Destroying families

The YWCA's emergency housing is clogged.

Currently there is a 76-family waiting list to get into one of the five emergency units available. Social housing, about 300 units, has a waiting list of over 200.

The situation is causing the break up of families, officials say.

"The women go to the women's centre, the men go to the Salvation Army and the kids go into foster care," said Hoeft.

A lack of housing is causing problems in other situations too.

Women who leave abusive relationships are at risk of losing their children.

"A woman who comes into the Alison McAteer with kids can't find a place to live so she goes back to the abusive relationship. Now, with the changes to the Child Welfare Act, they can take her kids away. So, she has a choice - she can be homeless and lose her kids - or she can go back to an abusive relationship and lose her kids," said Hoeft.

Housing shortage

Since the last federal housing survey revealed only four available rental units in the city the chances of finding accommodations are slim. That scarcity is also clogging the ideal progression of social housing.

Hoeft said the goal is to move people up through the various levels of social housing. For example, ideally someone will progress from emergency housing, to transitional housing to supportive housing and then on to market economy housing.

However, the system is jammed and people are staying in social housing a lot longer.

"There is nothing to move into, once it starts bottle-necking it effects right back down the line. That's why as a coalition we don't just focus on emergency housing. I think that's a strength of the coalition were not just emergency-based," said Hoeft.

There may, however, be some light on the horizon, according to the city. In the coming year another 347 housing starts are scheduled. Of that number, 217 are rental units. In the mean time long-term solutions to the problem are being sought. Hoeft sees one aspect of that as co-operation between the government and private sector.

She also said there may be room for initiatives like Habitat for Humanity, is a not-for-profit, volunteer organization, which brings communities together to build affordable housing.