Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 23/01) - The number of homeless people in Yellowknife cannot be counted.

Shelters are overflowing so much that some residents are squeezing people illegally into small houses, trailers and apartments.

Ron Whalen has been living from place to place to avoid living on the street in frigid winter temperatures. - Dawn Ostrem/NNSL photo

Many of these "hidden homeless" are living with other people, who, in order to help are breaking lease agreements.

"We just know there is lots," said Capt. Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army. "And there are lots living in tents."

Last year 6,673 people sought shelter at the Salvation Army. That number has already shot up to 8,993 this year so far.

Hoeft said the Salvation Army provided meals to 21,332 people last year and distributed 1,295 emergency food hampers.

Ron Whalen has a bunk there. He's been a volunteer at the Salvation Army for the past year.

"By living at the Salvation Army you get a real feel of the people that live there. One thing you learn is just how much they want to get outta there."

Whalen stays in one room with five bunks and a bathroom. Down the hall, in the detox area, homeless can sleep on mats if they make it in before midnight, a rule set by the shelter.

"Once the room is full, if they are drunk, (shelter workers) call the RCMP and reserve them a room at the International Hotel (drunk tank)," Whalen said.

Whalen said recently a man showed up at the shelter sober after working all day but since there was a mix-up "he had to walk the streets all night."

"I guess they duck into banks when someone is coming out to keep warm. One guy said he stayed in the Discovery Inn bathroom the other night."

Whalen used to be one of the hidden homeless, crashing here and there.

A former shelter worker who lived in Iqaluit for seven years, Whalen said he is distracted by a personal court case right now and cannot concentrate on a job. He said there is no use finding work if he still can't afford the daunting price of rent.

The price of a bachelor suite apartment in Yellowknife is currently about $800 to $900.

"If it was about $450, I'm pretty sure I could find a job," he said. "If you are at the top of the food chain you can go out and buy a house or rent an apartment. If you are at the bottom, there is no place to go."

Not-quite-legal digs

When he arrived in Yellowknife a year ago, Whalen stayed in a room in someone's trailer for a while and paid some rent, but eventually got kicked out and took up shelter in an office above a downtown night club.

"That was quite illegal but we had a bunch of people there. After that was not an option any more I thought, let's go camping."

Whalen said he and a friend stayed at an out-of-the-way campsite at Fred Henne Park over the summer. They managed to avoid paying camping fees after the pair struck an agreement with park staff to pick up garbage during the day.

On the last day the park was open, Sept. 16, Whalen found shelter for the upcoming cold months in an unfinished house owned by an acquaintance.

Whalen said the owner put up plywood for walls and created several bunk areas for the four or five residents. They lived without heat and with a poorly-wired electrical system. Once the temperatures dropped, though, because the house had no working furnace, the people staying at the house were evicted.

On Nov. 15 the Yellowknife Homeless Coalition announced a new initiative.

Starting in January it will take $700,000 in federal funding to open an office, hire an executive assistant and figure out a way to help ease the housing crunch.

The coalition is made up of several local community and government groups.

"It is to look at long-term holistic solutions to homelessness," explained Hoeft. "The coalition is to bring all the players on board to come up with real answers."

At the Yellowknife Women's Centre, which is limited to nine beds, there are regularly between 20 and 24 people staying there. "On floors and couches," explained Arlene Hache, who runs the centre.

Many of the women either don't have the skills or mental health to secure full-time work, but do manage temporary jobs, she said.