Shelter needs stable source of funding
Emergency Warming Centre has seen an increase in users
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, October 6, 2016
INUVIK
By his own account, if it weren't for the John Wayne Kiktorak Centre, Richard "Stick" Edwards would be dead.
Richard "Stick" Edwards admits he would be dead if not for Inuvik's warming centre. He has been homeless since April. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photos
|
"I have no employment," said Edwards, 62, who has been using the centre, also known as the Inuvik Emergency Warming Centre, since April when he was evicted from his home.
"I hope they keep it open because without the shelter I have no place to go."
Edwards was born in Fort McPherson but has lived his life in Inuvik.
In the summer, his only other option for a home is to get taken in by the RCMP. In the winter, "I'd freeze to death," he said.
"If it wasn't for (the shelter) there would be lots of dead people on the streets."
Citing freezing temperatures and hunger, Edwards said he would "go to my grave" if it were not for the shelter.
Joey Amos, manager of the centre, said it nearly closed in the summer when the society ran out of funding. He had even given his staff notices he'd be letting them go until the winter.
Sleep in the bush
But when Amos informed the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority that he would be closing the centre's doors for summer, he was asked to keep it open.
From there, Amos says Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy and Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart were integral in pushing the centre's funding requests forward to keep it open.
Centre usage only increased over the summer, hitting a high of 25 people per night at one point. It usually serves eight to 14.
There are two rooms for people to sleep on mats: one for men and one for women. In return for meals, regular users of the centre are asked to do chores to keep the place clean.
Amos said if not for the centre, his clients would sleep in the bush or in abandoned buildings. They might also try to spend nights in RCMP cells or at the hospital, a strain on resources for those organizations.
The centre managed to stay in operation for the summer, but keeping the funding coming is a difficult job.
Needs close to $500,000
"Right now I have to go to this agency [and] that agency with a proposal for each and every one of them," said Amos, who wishes the centre could receive a three-year block of core funding, instead of it being a constant puzzle he has to keep together.
Amos estimates that the low-end cost to keep the centre open year-round is $400,000, but to meet every need and keep good staff, that number is probably closer to $500,000.
Thinking of the centre's supporters in government, Amos said, "They really believe in it but their hands are tied too.
"The NWT is vast and they have to try to deal with other agencies or other non-profits that want a piece of the pie.
"They keep saying the money is not there."
His costs are lessened by the enormous generosity of the community of Inuvik, he said.
"Some of our local people, whether they're Inuvialuit or Gwich'in, if they harvest something they're dropping off fish, caribou, moose, even this spring we got some geese from one of our local hunters and it was incredible," said Amos.
"I really can't ask for much more from the community. They have been so generous," Amos said.
"Look at even the Santa Clause parade last December. Every one of those winners on the parade ended up donating their winnings to the centre. The school, when they do drives and stuff like that, they're bringing groceries, they're bringing $80.
"The couches here were donated by the community, the tables were donated by the government, the lockers here were donated by the RCMP. How much more can I ask from the community that continues to give?
"What I need from the government is some sort of guarantee of funding."
Edwards said he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Amos and the shelter.
He only wishes the centre could expand so people didn't have to crowd into the same room, which can make sleeping difficult.
"Let's have a bigger place, but how will we finance that bigger place?" he asked.
"That's a problem."
The Inuvik Emergency Warming Centre started in the Anglican Church December 2013.
It moved to the abandoned Berger building in November 2015, when the town sold the building to the centre for $1.
Amos has been running the centre since the move to the Berger building.
