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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Bailey House, the facility built in 2009 at a cost $4.8 million to provide men with transitional housing, is not always a busy place in summer but it's filling up fast for winter, according to its manager.

Bailey House manager Willy Chidowe said he expects the transitional housing facility to be at full capacity by the end of December. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

The 44 Street facility, is expected to be at full capacity within a couple weeks, according to Willy Chidowe, the co-ordinator for Bailey House.

"You'll notice it not just in the Bailey House but also in the Salvation Army shelter," said Chidowe. "Our numbers always increase around this time where we actually end up to the point where we almost have a full house. I believe this winter we will be to a full house."

Bailey House has 33 units and 23 are currently occupied. Chidowe is hesitant to pin one reason as to why Bailey House is not always at full capacity, but pointed to the facility's rules on drugs, alcohol and guest visitations as to why people may prefer not to stay there. He also said sometimes people lie on their Income Support claims, used to pay the rent, and are forced to leave.

He said in the summer, many clients prefer to live in camps outside instead.

"We have more coming, and by mid-December we will have 27 and I believe that by the end of December we will be full. So, there is a need," he said.

The idea behind Bailey House was to give homeless men seeking to better their lives a low-cost place to stay while they search for a permanent home.

Bailey House charges $800 a month for rooms adjacent to a central kitchen, and $900 for suites with kitchenettes.

"What we're noticing is that clients that we're getting are very serious; they want to make a change," said Chidowe.

"So the guys we have are staying here longer. Rather than just staying here for the winter, they are here for the duration until they are able to move up to the place where they don't just have a job, but they are able to pay rent."

Bailey House allows clients two months to show they are making progress. It also has a limit of three years that clients can rent a room.

"The need seems to be increasing and maybe the money isn't there but we are doing what we need to, and that is showing compassion to other humans," he said.

He said he has never seen anybody have to wait for more than three weeks to get a room at the Bailey House.

"When I get four applications I call a meeting for the following week. So no-one has ever waited for months to get into the Bailey House," he said, adding that if there isn't room, they co-ordinate something with the Salvation Army shelter.

"The reward, especially here at the Bailey House, there's something good about seeing a person who's down and out coming in and really striving to find a better way of living and being able to be in control of their recovery."

In the heart of downtown, an initiative is underway to get similar housing options for women, and women with children, with Betty House. It will be located on 54 Street. The project is being spearheaded by the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition.

"Of course, funding is needed," said Dayle Hernblad, who is the homelessness co-ordinator for the City of Yellowknife. "Until we finalize the design, we don't have a firm budget, but we expect to come in at about $6- to $7-million,"

"Basically we're working on the design of (Betty House) and so we need to make sure that the building is absolutely viable, that the building is large enough to accommodate as many women or women with children as possible, but also that it's small enough that the running of the building is viable.

"So we've been working diligently with our architect, FSC, in trying to come up with a good balance of number of units and basically the footprint of the building on the lot," said Hernblad.

"We've got about $2 million that we've got committed. We're working on some larger commitments as well. I can't really say at this point but we expect to be over halfway fairly soon," she said.

She said the coalition, which includes different levels of government, and the YWCA expect to break ground on Betty House by the summer of 2013.

Like Chidowe, she said there is a need in Yellowknife for this sort of housing, and it affects her when she sees people taking shelter in places such as banks for lack of having another place to go.

"It's heartbreaking," said Hernblad.

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