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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Day Shelter temporarily closed its doors last Friday and those who frequented the facility will need to find another place to go during the day.

The shelter will reopen on Aug. 13 after a four-week closure - which includes two weeks vacation for staff, two weeks of professional development training and maintenance on the interior of the building.

Lydia Bardak, executive director of the John Howard Society, which runs the shelter, said the time off was much needed for the shelter's staff.

"Some of our staff have been with us for nearly three years and never had a vacation," she said.

The day shelter welcomes between 55 and 60 people through its doors every day, which represents close to 20,000 visits a year. The program is in its final months of a three-year pilot project and will be looking in the coming year for further funding for its programs.

The GNWT's department of Health and Social Services contributes to the program as well as BHP Billiton and the City of Yellowknife. In 2009, the GNWT committed $375,000, BHP gave $150,000 and the city offered $75,000 to the project.

The pressure has already been felt by some not-for-profit organizations in the city, who were warned in advance of the closure.

"I can say that we've definitely had an increase in the number of women who would like to stay during the day," said Mira Hall, acting program director at the Centre for Northern Families. "We've had an increase in the number of intoxicated women being around the building. Frankly, we run a daycare so people who are intoxicated are not allowed around the centre ... before 7 p.m. That rule is still in effect."

Hall added that the Centre of Northern Families will not act as a temporary day shelter for the city during the four-week break, and further funding is needed to keep the shelter up and running all year long.

"I think that it's absolutely imperative that the health department and downtown businesses should be contributing to the operating costs of the day shelter because it directly benefits the downtown area to give people who are intoxicated a place to go," Hall said.

"If people want it open, they should pay attention to the situation over the next four weeks and see how much great work the day shelter actually does."

The Salvation Army has prepared a "plan of attack" for the coming weeks to help keep up with the demand, and have been in talks with the RCMP and other not-for-profits in the city, said Brian Birch, director of programs with the Salvation Army. Birch added that his staff haven't noticed a large influx of people since the closure.

"It hasn't been greatly noticeable, but I think it's partly because of the weather," he said. "We've put a few things into practice and have been talking with Food Rescue who are more than willing to send us extra food. We've (also) talked with our cook who is more than willing to start cooking up more if needed."

The Salvation Army offers breakfast, lunch and dinner programs to anyone in the city at their location at 4925 45 St. Breakfast begins at 5 a.m.

Many people familiar with homelessness agree the coming weeks will remind residents what the situation was before the day shelter was in operation.

"The closing of the day shelter for a month this summer should give all involved a true picture of the contribution that the shelter is making to our city," stated Mayor Gord Van Tighem in an e-mail.

The Department of Health and Social Services declined to comment about the day shelter temporarily shutting its doors.

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