Terry Kruger
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 22/00) - A group of social service agencies want to restructure how shelter is provided to Yellowknife's homeless population.

A federal strategy to address Canada's homeless problem resulted in the report A Community Response to Housing Needs: Emergency, Transitional and the 'Hard to House' compiled by YWCA, Yellowknife Women's Centre, The Salvation Army and Side Door.

According to Women's Centre director Arlene Hache, the strategy has nothing to do with the pending closure of the Home for Homeless shelter for men, but does admit there were concerns about safety at the Home, where a worker was stabbed earlier this month.

She said she expressed concerns about allegations of sexual assault and assault to the NWT Housing Corp., which runs the home, more than six weeks ago.

"We went to the housing corporation and asked them to close it down because we were so worried about the dangerous situation."

Hache added that the shelter had also moved away from its original mandate to provide housing for Yellowknife's long-term "hard to house" population -- both men and women.

"It ended up as an emergency centre," said Hache.

That's a role already fulfilled by the Salvation Army.

In fact, in the agencies' proposal, roles for housing the homeless would be formalized and streamlined.

Their plan calls for the Salvation Army to stop housing women in its five-bed dorm and provide emergency shelter for 18 men.

Single women would be referred to the Yk Women's Centre who would increase their number of beds to 10 from seven.

The centre also hopes to move to a new location in the former detox unit on Franklin Avenue and increase staff to accommodate the added responsibility.

They would close the basement apartment presently used to house families, a need that would be filled by the YWCA.

The YWCA currently has two emergency units and 31 transitional units for families. The plan calls for increasing the number of emergency units to five, boost staffing and increase funding for repair and maintenance of housing units and other capital projects.

The Side Door would not providing housing for homeless teens, but it would be open as a "drop-in" centre for teens 24-hours a day, providing a place for them to "crash."

It's all part of an effort to augment existing services, rather than establish new ones.

"We're looking for a cohesive, seamless service, and not having gaps," said Salvation Army's director of community services, Capt. Karen Hoeft.

She agreed that the plan would result in the need for more money for the four agencies, but hopes much of that funding can come from existing resources.

"We hope they can redirect it if we show a good strategy and good plans."

The groups met with the housing corporation Monday and has been in discussions with Human Resources Development Canada on an ongoing basis.

They also hope the plan will lead to a proposal that can be used to get funding for long-term needs from the federal government.

That includes identifying potential surplus federal housing in Yellowknife.

Hoeft emphasized that this project is not a stop-gap effort.

"Homelessness is a long-term problem," she said. "Homelessness is not a short-term pilot project."

In the interim, both Hache and Hoeft said people who need shelter "will not be left to freeze." They just have to abide by the rules.