SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It looked like business as usual at the Dene K'o Day Shelter on Wednesday morning: clients curled up on sofas to watch movies and read books, a few others lined up to use the telephone in the office, while one individual was asked to leave the premises for being disrespectful to another client.

Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority has had to cough up more cash than it had in the past in order to keep Yellowknife's day shelter afloat for the last two months, according to documents obtained by Yellowknifer. Denise McKee, executive director of the NWT Disabilities Council, said the feedback since it took over the shelter from the John Howard Society has been "extremely positive." - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

What was not immediately evident was that the cost of running the downtown day shelter has nearly doubled - and the rent nearly tripled - since health officials contracted a new operator to take over the facility at the beginning of April.

The shelter was originally supposed to close its doors for good March 31 after the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority decided not to renew its contract with the John Howard Society. The health authority has stated its goal is to open a new day shelter after this summer.

However, a public outcry over the sudden announcement led the health authority to come up with a temporary measure, contracting the NWT Disabilities Council to run the facility until the end of this month.

According to documents obtained by Yellowknifer through an access to information request, the health authority is paying close to $45,000 a month to keep the shelter open for April and May, including close to $30,000 a month to pay for staff salaries and supplies.

As a point of comparison, Lydia Bardak, executive director of the John Howard Society, said the society was given a total of just $15,333.00 per month to pay for all the shelter's expenses, including staff wages, rent, and supplies for the first four years that it was in charge of the facility.

As a result, the John Howard Society would regularly have to fundraise to make up the approximately $40,000 to $50,000 shortfall each year, she said.

She added the society's monthly funding was bumped up to $25,000 a month six months before their contract was up so that an on-site manager could be hired.

One major factor contributing to the increased cost for running the shelter since April 1 was an increase of rent to $15,000 from $4,200 a month being charged by the facility's landlord, Bromley and Sons.

Les Harrison, executive director of the health authority, did not respond to a request for comment May 16 to discuss rental or staffing costs for the shelter.

Bromley and Sons, which was reportedly planning to demolish the building at the end of March before reaching an agreement with the health authority to continue renting the property for an additional two months, also declined to comment.

In addition to the increase in rent, the health authority shelled out $9,920 per month to Twilight Security to provide a security guard at the shelter during operating hours, which have been reduced from 12 hours to 7.5 hours a day since April 1.

A janitor was also hired to clean the shelter twice a day, a job formerly done by regular staff. The cost of the service was not included in the documents.

When asked how staff and clients have viewed the introduction of security guards at the shelter, Denise McKee, executive director of the NWT Disabilities Council, said feedback "has been extremely positive since we took responsibility."

Yellowknifer spoke with two staff at the shelter who said they are able to diffuse situations without the help of the security guard but that it was nice to know he was there if needed.

"He's just there for backup," said Julie Thrasher, who worked with homeless people in Inuvik for more than 10 years before recently moving to Yellowknife. "(Staff and clients) know the security guard is there, so that provides security and assurance."

Yellowknifer also spoke with two long-time clients of the shelter who said they security guards have made a difference.

"Everyone was rowdy when there was no security," said one of them, who asked only to be identified as Frank. "It's a bit better. It calms everybody down."

Thrasher said one of the biggest reasons the atmosphere has improved at the shelter is because the NWT Disabilities Council hired mostly new staff when it took over from the John Howard Society, having retained only one employee from the previous management.

There had reportedly been numerous complaints about staff in the past, many of whom had previously been homeless and suffered from addictions issues themselves.

A petition, dated Feb. 24, included in the documents obtained by Yellowknifer, asks for the health authority to remove the John Howard Society as operator of the shelter due to "abusive," "violent" and "drunk" staff.

When asked about the petition May 15, Harrison stated in an e-mail that the health authority "never received ... information" regarding how many people signed it and he didn't know who drafted it.

Frank said he never saw staff drunk on the job, but said they were sometimes aggressive in dealing with unruly clients.

"They were more forceful because they didn't have security," he said.

At least one of the new staff members is a professionally trained social worker.

That person, who asked not to be named, said she used "social worker skills almost everyday" at the shelter. She added that she has enjoyed being able to work with the clients there.

"Honestly, sometimes it's really peaceful in here," she said.

However, she said she only makes $21.50 an hour working at the shelter compared to her previous job where she earned $33 an hour.

The only reason she was able to afford taking a job at the shelter was because she was out of work at the time and she knew it would be a short-term contract. She said she is currently looking for somewhere else to work once the shelter closes its doors for good next week.

"If the pay was good, I'd stay," she said.

Thrasher said she would continue doing her job regardless of her pay. However, she said the government should be more proactive in helping the homeless.

"Too many times you hear MLAs talking in the legislature about homelessness, about addictions, about mental health issues, about poverty, but at the same time we're cutting back on funding to things like the treatment centre," she said.

"Everyone wants to clean up the downtown core, but if you want to clean (it) up you need to start with the people."

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