INUVIK - Inuvik taxpayers will help pay for the homeless shelter's operations, at least for the next three months.

Town council voted unanimously at its Aug. 12 meeting to cover the shelter's utility bills until Nov. 30. The bills could range from $2,000 to $3,000 a month, and Inuvik's Interagency Committee appealed to councillors' humanity when asking for more help covering the building's expenses. All of the councillors supported the idea, with the exception of Alana Mero, who abstained because she sits on the Interagency's board, and Terry Halifax, who was absent.

Town council voted unanimously at its Aug. 12 meeting to cover the shelter's utility bills until Nov. 30. The bills could range from $2,000 to $3,000 a month. - NNSL file photo

Council emphasized it would only pay the bills temporarily.

"I'm quite happy to give a three-month commitment; I just don't want to see the town running this thing," said Coun. Vince Sharpe. "I think we're doing enough for our part, but I'm happy to support the motion."

The town, which leases out the homeless shelter tax-free had previously agreed to cover electricity and gas bills from July 15, the day the shelter briefly shut down, until the end of August.

The Interagency Committee agreed last month to temporarily take over responsibility for the shelter from the Nihtat Gwich'in Council, which ran the shelter at a deficit for years before announcing in June it could no longer do so. The shelter receives $180,000 annually from the GNWT, and running it left the Nihtat Gwich'in Council with a $50,000 deficit last year. Now, responsibility for shelter operations has officially been transferred to the Interagency Committee and a new funding contract has been signed with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE), as well as an upcoming contract with the Department of Health and Social Services.

The local housing authority recently completed an inspection of the 20-year-old building that houses the shelter. The inspection report pointed out several expensive energy costs in the building, including a continually plugged-in air conditioner. It found structurally, the building is currently only operating at about 53 per cent of its capacity. Mike Millen, a representative of the Interagency Committee who presented the report to council last Thursday night, said a Building Sub-Committee plans to renovate some rooms, creating more space so the shelter can house more people. Inuvik Drum tried to obtain a complete copy of the building inspection from both the Interagency Committee and the Housing Authority, but both organizations refused, neither considering the report to be public information.

In the meantime, a team of local residents has struck up a fundraising committee and the office of Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod reports that he is trying to secure enough money to hire a shelter manager. McLeod was on leave and unavailable for comment.

Still, there's not enough money to go around, said Interagency co-chair Mary Ann Ross. Already agreed-upon government funding - about $45,000 left over from the Nihtat Gwich'in Council's contract with ECE - will likely only last until the end of October.

"So we need to get a lot of things done within that time," Ross said.

Veronica Kasook, corporate manager of the Inuvik Community Corporation, is heading up a finance and fundraising sub-committee for the shelter, which was scheduled to have its first meeting earlier this week. Kasook said she feels personally committed to not only keeping the shelter running, but to improving its services. She wants to get at the root of homelessness in the community and help fix it.

"I'm doing it as part of my job, but also I want to see the homeless shelter continue with more programs. I don't want them just to be booted out in the morning," Kasook said, adding she'd like to see shelter staff offer day programs for the homeless, helping them find jobs, homes and treatment if necessary.

"They need somebody to work with them and follow up with them, like a caseworker. Right now, they go out in the mornings and that's it," she said. "The only way I can help make it happen is to be involved."

The Interagency-formed homelessness advisory committee meets 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Anglican Church of Ascension on Mackenzie Road.

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