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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There is no danger that the doors of the Dene Ko Day Shelter in downtown Yellowknife will be closed this year, according to a spokesperson for the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, which controls the shelter's funding.

The health authority, which receives its funding from the territorial government, will also not put out a request for proposals on the contract to run the shelter this year, opting instead to have the John Howard Society continue running the facility, said Les Harrison, the health authority's chief executive officer, on Wednesday.

"We are not currently doing (a request for proposals) for the day shelter," Harrison told Yellowknifer. "We have a contract with the John Howard Society and we're just extending that until March 31, 2014."

Last week, Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins raised concerns in the legislative assembly over day shelter management, saying he would like to see other groups in Yellowknife be given the chance to bid on the contract for running the shelter.

"The reality is, if it's going to keep being run into the ground by the same bunch of people, we might as well just stop, refresh our mandate and policy, and ask ourselves why do we do this and how do we do it right," said Hawkins on Feb. 7.

"If the members in the legislative assembly think the best thing to do is shut it down and start over, we're prepared to do that," said Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu in response to Hawkins' line of questioning.

Day shelter funding has only been secured for the coming year, said Harrison. Without knowing where the money will come from to keep the shelter open in future years, it is too soon to start planning for how to alter services provided at the facility.

"There's no point in putting (a request for proposals) out if you don't have long-term funding," he said.

That said, the health authority will be working over the next year to determine what the needs of Yellowknife's homeless population are, whether the shelter is meeting those needs and what improvements can be made at the day shelter, Harrison said. He could not provide details on when or how this evaluation will take place.

"I think our key goal right now is to sustain the funding for the shelter and ensure that there is stability for the staff, so that they know there is some commitment over the next period of time," said Harrison. "We just haven't arrived at that point yet."

The funding for the fiscal year starting on April 1 is contingent upon the health authority receiving a proposal from the John Howard Society before March 31 and receiving detailed information on how the society has spent past funding, which is expected to be submitted by June, said Harrison.

"We're committed to providing support to the homeless in this community," he said. "This is an ongoing discussion. How are we going to work together at agencies to meet the needs of that population?"

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