INUVIK
After weeks of delays, the emergency warming centre will have doors to open in the near future.

The Anglican Church served as the home of the emergency warming centre in past years but the group is looking for a new home this season. - NNSL file photo

Sheila O'Kane, one of the project's proponents, said the goal is to have the shelter up and running by Nov. 28. The ambitious plan is easier now that a new location has been secured.

"I keep saying, if it weren't Inuvik, it probably couldn't be done," said O'Kane. "But when this community comes together, it really comes together."

Last week, the warming station was one of two organizations that went before town council to ask for use of the Berger Building, better known as the former home of Inuvik Works. The other group, Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR), withdrew its application later in the week and planned to take the town up on its offer of an alternate location.

The warming station will be a much-needed addition to the community as the weather gets colder. While there is a homeless shelter, it requires its clients to be entirely sober, a requirement with which some struggle.

"We're not starting from scratch," said O'Kane. "We have some resources already, we have a pool of people . not a complete team but there's a core group."

The station has been open the last two years, but this will be the latest start date yet, even if the group achieves its goal and opens before the end of the month. Last year, a total of 38 individuals took refuge there in the first 17 days it was open, some staying only one night and some staying for longer. While O'Kane said the general trend was between eight and 12 clients per night, February 2015 saw a total of 220 overnight stays.

"We want to do it differently this year," she said. "We want to provide at least morning programming, something where informal conversations can happen."

O'Kane also said in an ideal world, the shelter would be open throughout the summer as well but in a modified form. Otherwise, she said, the group is left to re-invent the wheel every year when the weather starts to turn cold.

"I don't think anybody should be relegated to taking refuge under a building or in a vehicle at 40 below," she said. "Whether they're intoxicated or not, they still have the right to some human dignity."

New digs for GSAR

Meanwhile, Ground Search and Rescue president John Hicks said while the Berger Building seemed like an ideal location, he was happy to look at other options.

"We have an abundance of gear at our disposal," he said. "Everything from camping gear to generators, lighting systems and rations to feed people . but we also have temperature sensitive gear and have plans to add things like canoes and toboggans. These things cannot be stored in the command post."

Currently, sensitive gear like computers and GPS devices are stored at GSAR members' homes, making quick access in the event of an emergency more difficult. Hicks said the organization would like to move into the new location as soon as possible.

The alternate location proposed by the town, Hicks said, is near the liquor store. The request for the Berger Building took longer than expected and Hicks said he was not aware another group was requesting to use the same space. But at the end of the day, he thinks finding space for GSAR shouldn't be up to the municipality.

"This should really be a Municipal and Community Affairs issue and not Town of Inuvik," he said. "But hopefully with a review of the Emergency Measures Act and the election we'll see better support structures around GSAR in the NWT."

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