Yellowknife (Sep 20/06) - Four months ago, Mona (not her real name) came back from working in camp at one of the territories' mines.

Though her pocket was full of money from her two-week shift, her relationship was nearly over and the admitted addict went in search of what gave her solace; being with her friends and smoking crack.

Hitting rock bottom, a place Mona said she's been many times in the past, she went to the women's emergency shelter located at the Centre for Northern Families on Franklin Avenue. Mona said she was at first reluctant to go.

"I heard horror stories, people taking stuff and fighting in here," she said adding her watch was stolen. "But the people here are very open and that makes you want to come back."

Each night at the shelter, most seeking a safe place to sleep are faced with crashing on the floor.

Without transitional housing, the city's emergency shelter for females has become a defacto rooming house, according to social advocates. "Staying in an emergency shelter for three years like some of the women, isn't an emergency," said Lydia Bardak, chair of Yellowknife's Homelessness Coalition. "It's a disaster."

With only five bedrooms - equipped to house nine people - and between 25 and 30 women seeking a bed each night, padded mats are spread out on the floor of the common area to accommodate the overflow.

But for Mona, her time at the shelter has been anything but disastrous. "Being here is helping me today," she said.

While finding a place to sleep in a common area packed with padded mats and women sleeping on couches was difficult at first, she eventually earned space in a room she shares with another woman.

"I stay here during the day, pitch in and do chores, help cook meals. If I go downtown, what do I do? I go look for my friends and end up smoking crack."

Arlene Hache, executive director of the Centre for Northern Families called the overcrowding situation "inhumane" but said with limited funding, it's the only option.

Rent is $4000/month for the facility and with 24 full-time and part-time staff members, Hache said the annual $1 million it gets from the territorial department of Education, Culture and Employment barely makes ends meet.

"Because we get referrals from the hospital with addictions problems and we get people on parole or probation, (the ministry of) justice and health and social services should be contributing," said Hache adding the site also functions as a detox.

Testament to that is Mona, who has managed to stay away from drugs while at the shelter.

"I'd like to leave (the drugs) behind and if I could go for treatment I would but it costs a lot," she said. "I'm here because I want to make that transition."

The Centre for Northern Families has been operating in Yellowknife for 15 years, and for the past five in its current location.

In addition to its role as an emergency shelter, the centre offers a healthy babies program, a toddler club and other family support programs.