Yellowknife (Jul 07/06) - A future centre for Yellowknife's homeless is being billed as a "transitional shelter."

Bill Enge, president of the Yellowknife Metis Nation Local 66, said the shelter is sorely needed. Many people in Yellowknife have jobs but are unable to make ends meet.

"If the homeless in the street need emergency shelter, they can go to the Salvation Army," he said. "But once they get out of that emergency, this can allow them to change."

Enge adds the shelter will appeal to people who may already have jobs but do not have enough money for a down payment on a house or first month's rent.

Organizers expect the shelter to have three stories, which will include activity space, dormitory-style rooms and "bachelor-suite" style apartments. But no floor plan has been confirmed yet.

On June 20, Enge joined Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem and Canada's Governor General, Michaelle Jean, at a sod-turning ceremony on the grounds of Yellowknife's old firehouse, where the shelter is scheduled to be built.

Mayor Van Tighem said the event was "a visible sign of progress" toward something he's been backing more than five years.

"A transitional shelter is the next step," he said.

Van Tighem said plans are being finalized for the station and there is no set date for completion of the shelter. However, he says it is a very important project and he intends to see it completed.