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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The number of people using the Salvation Army shelter this past December was up from December 2007 and the shelter's director said there are many reasons why.

Julie Gould-Benreddad, director of community services for the Yellowknife Salvation Army, said the number of people using the emergency shelter totalled 1,075 in December 2008, up from 974 in December 2007.

Julie Gould-Benreddad sits in the office where people come in to use the Salvation Army shelter. She said they are always at near-capacity and the beds usually fill up early in the evenings. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

The Salvation Army has 49 beds available. Of those, 29 are in the emergency shelter and 20 in the Productive Choices Program. Gould-Benreddad said they are almost always operating at full capacity.

"We usually have to turn people away," she said. "It's a normal month-to-month thing."

Gould-Benreddad said the severe cold weather has been one of the leading factors for higher numbers.

"The weather has come on very strong in the beginning versus last year," she said. "Keeping up with the cold weather is one of the biggest challenges we face at this time of the year."

The shelter has been staying open during the day lately to keep people in out of the cold even though they have no funding available to do so.

"We are stretching and bending our staff to keep the place open during the day," she said. "We're keeping it open when we don't have the manpower to do it. It's challenging."

There are many other variables contributing to the increase in December, according to Gould-Bedreddad, including economic struggles. Many tradespeople are facing a shortage of work and out-of-province workers often have difficulty obtaining criminal record checks and identification, she said.

"The politics and paperwork that goes behind getting their identification can be difficult, especially for migrating workers," she said.

She also said the growing use of drugs and alcohol is causing the numbers to increase and, concurrently, the lack of affordable housing.

"The extent of the drugs is affecting people more," she said. "Alcoholism was one of the main problems and you'd have a few people hooked on crack cocaine and now there are more addictions that contribute to the homelessness.

"The inadequate affordable housing in the city is up there in the high ranks with addictions."

In December, 42 people were turned away from the shelter, the same number from December 2007, but she said the reasons for the rejections last year were different.

"We had 28 to 30 turned away this December because of inappropriate behaviour," said Gould-Benreddad. "They were turned away because they aren't safe or they were restricted from staying because of past violence."

Gould-Benreddad said they work closely with the RCMP to make sure those not given a place to stay can come in out of the cold.

"The RCMP supports us in our efforts to keep the rest of the population safe," she said. "What we tend to do if a person comes through the door that can't come in and are in a state of mind where they can't take care of themselves - we will call the RCMP. Most times we can just ask the person if they want us call the RCMP and they'll say, 'yes,' because they know they'll be safe if they go and sleep in the warm."

RCMP Const. Kathy Law said they couldn't provide numbers on people apprehended and kept in jail overnight for intoxication and to stay out of the cold.

"It's really hard to break down the stats and it wouldn't give much of a clear picture," Law said.

Many were turned away ifrom the shelter in 2007 because they arrived past the curfew of 11 p.m. and only five for inappropriate conduct. However, Gould-Benreddad said the number from 2007 may not be accurate because shelter staff were not tracking as closely as 2008.

"It was only seven this year (2008) for being late," she said. "We used to be open until 2 a.m. but we changed the curfew time to 11 p.m. It was really dangerous to leave the doors open that late with only one staff member on.

"We didn't want to promote that people could just stay out and party all night and then they'd still have a place to stay. We promote that people are in safe and out of the cold by a certain time of the night."

Yellowknifer couldn't determine whether the number of women staying at the Centre for Northern Families shelter had increased by press time.