INUVIK - It's -37 C and Mel Jacob is taking a long drag on his cigarette.

He watches the horizon's red fury cast the igloo church into silhouette.

He puts out the smoke and heads inside to be greeted by the smell of spaghetti - it's lunch time at the Inuvik Homeless Shelter.

"If it wasn't for the shelter, I'd be outside again this winter," said Jacob. "I've been outside most my life."

After lunch it will be back to his job removing asbestos.

Talking about his life, Jacob is quick to admit he's seen the bottom of a few bottles and the inside of a jail cell. He's seen a lot. Travelling through Central and South America in 1971, he helped dig bodies out of landslides in El Salvador and Ecuador.

"I'd do it again, but I wouldn't recommend it as an experience for anyone," he said.

We've all got our demons and Jacob's life hasn't been no crystal stair. He's worked from Ontario to the Northwest Territories and spent many nights in homeless shelters. A decade ago, Jacob chased work with Arctic oil and gas to Inuvik. Since then he's slept in many doorways and worked for many local businesses.

Jacob's was just one of the storied faces lining up for resource worker Lorna Loreen's home cooked spaghetti.

Despite its 16 beds, 12 for men and four for women, the building shelters about 18 to 20 people each night - filling the couches and available space as the thermometer plunges well below - 30 C outside.

Faced with funding shortages, the shelter closed for three days last summer. Inuvik's Interagency Committee has since managed to cobble together funding, grants and donations from the territorial government, local residents and businesses and the Royal Canadian Legion along with building maintenance help from the town.

The centre employs three full-time staff, three part-time and a few casual workers.

"We're always seeking volunteers," added centre co-ordinator Kathleen Selkirk.

They've started community cribbage and board game nights, even an upcoming acupuncture night thanks to a volunteer from Aurora College.

From her upbeat discussion of what's happening at the shelter, Selkirk sighs and her talk turns to Christmas.

"We're opening the shelter up as a safe-house from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2 for anyone that needs to get away from alcohol, drugs or family problems," said Selkirk. "Christmas brings extra stresses to some families and can be a sad time of year. If someone needs to spend the night, we'll try to accommodate them but we might not have room."

Which brings us to their wish list - the homeless shelter is seeking donations of bunk beds to increase their capacity, along with a host of items from food to presents for their residents.

While Selkirk was listing off the shelter's needs, Veronica Kiktorak was smiling over a mug of coffee.

"I got my own place," she told Selkirk. "I'm moving in this afternoon with a friend soon as the electricity is hooked up."

Kiktorak spent the summer living in a tent, came down with pneumonia and ended up in the Inuvik Regional Hospital for two weeks.

"The doctors told me I'd have to move back indoors."

She'd been staying at the shelter ever since, working with the housing corporation to find a place to live. As Kiktorak and Selkirk talked of the new home, Jacob smiled.

"There's always hope," he said. "You got to hope and pray every day to more or less survive."

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