Yellowknife (Dec 19/03) - After a year of campaigning, the emergency shelters in Yellowknife have finally received a response from the territorial government.

Maj. Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army said even though government funding will soon run out, they are all appreciative of the money provided. - Colleen Moore/NNSL photo

Lesley Allen, assistant deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment, said the government recognizes there is a need for emergency shelters in the city.

Several departments within the GNWT scraped together a total of $96,000, splitting that equally between the Salvation Army and the Centre for Northern Families to assist in funding the beds already in place.

"I believe that the major reason for this is there is obviously a need for emergency housing," said Allen, adding that this is only a short-term solution to get through the winter months.

The Salvation Army's Maj. Karen Hoeft said there are 44 beds available to men at their shelter.

For the past year, the government has only been paying for 20 of the 44 beds.

Because of the additional funding granted last week, 10 more beds will be paid for over the next four months.

At the Centre for Northern Families, about 30 beds are available to women, but only 16 are paid for by the GNWT. Their chunk of the extra money will fund an another 10.

Although the government has stepped in to help, Hoeft said it is never enough until there are no people left sleeping on the streets.

"I am really happy with this response," she said.

"The need is there. We can't turn people away."

Last year, Hoeft said that on average, 38 of the 44 beds are occupied every night. This year, that number is growing.

Hoeft explained that when the government funding dries up in four months, they will be back at square one.

"Unless we build a bunch of housing units, the need isn't going to go away," she said.

Lyda Fuller, executive director of the YWCA, agreed with Hoeft, and said the shortage of units is the problem.

The YWCA runs emergency housing in Yellowknife.

Fuller said that although she appreciates the government's commitment to double the number of emergency apartments from five to 10, it doesn't matter much to the organization.

"I need to find five more units that I can use," she said. "Until I can find those, this isn't too helpful."

Last year, Fuller said there was a waiting list of almost 60 families searching for emergency housing.

This year, there are already about 44 families on the list.

Fuller said it just keeps on growing.