Sally Ann boosts number of beds at Winnipeg shelter as demand soars from refugees

Winnipeg's Salvation Army is adding 60 beds in its facilitydue to an increased demand driven by refugee claimants.

Currently, they arebeing housed in the emergency shelter area of the organization's Centre of Hope, thecharitable organization said in a news release Friday. But with winter coming,the Sally Ann wants to ensure those emergency beds are available.

"When it's cold outside in Winnipegwe just want to make sure that everyone has space. So we're just trying to do an early prep on what that's going to look like," executive director Mark Stewart told CBC News.

"We want to serve our community but we also want to serve newcomers to the community as well.Being a 24-hour shelter, we want to make sure that if our doors are open we have a warm space for somebody to sleep."

TheCentre of Hope, atthe corner of Main Street and Henry Avenue, is Manitoba's largest emergency shelter but ithas been at capacity for several weeks.

Typically, the demand for a warm place to sleep skyrockets as the colder weather hits, but the increased number of refugee claimantsmany of whomhave entered irregularly at the international border has pushed it to its limits well before that, the organization said.

Refugees highly motivated to work, but there are obstacles

Emily Halldorson with the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations saysmany refugee claimantsare homeless upon arrival into Canada.

Halldorsonsaid until those who submit refugee claims receive proper documentation, they don't have any way to apply for jobs, rent a homeor obtain a social insurance number, on top of a handful of other things.

"There's always a period of time where they are with very few resources to be able to support themselves," she said in an interview.

She added that a "unique client identifier" a number assigned by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also takes time to receive. A UCIopens the door for claimantsto obtaina work permit and allows them to apply for things like a SIN,Halldorsonsaid.

Getting a UCI is an important step in that people can move out of shelters and start their own lives, she added.

"They're not travelling across the world to come to Canada because they want to use our system to sit and abuse the system," she said.

"They're actually very, very motivated to work. So as soon as they get those papers that they are able to get some supports and to get their SIN and to start to work, they're applying to jobs right away."

Halldorson said while some refugee claimants are arriving in Manitoba through irregular crossings at the international border, her organization has also seensome "secondary migration," in which refugee claimants are coming from other Canadian jurisdictions.

"Lately that's been some of the larger cities where we know there's a lot of housing pressure and a lot of stress on shelters so, for example, people coming from Toronto," she said.

"Toronto is so overwhelmed, the system is really struggling there to keep up on the housing and also [the] supports side, and people are coming here, you know, to perhaps find ... an easier path for them here in Winnipeg."

WATCH |Sally Ann boosts number of beds at Winnipeg shelter as demand soars from refugees:

Sally Ann boosts number of beds at Winnipeg shelter

1 year ago

Duration 2:08

Winnipeg's Salvation Army is adding 60 beds in its facility due to an increased demand driven by refugee claimants. But with winter coming, the Sally Ann wants to ensure those emergency beds are available.

Cold weather looms in Winnipeg

Temperatures are forecast to start dropping next week in Winnipeg, from the current unseasonable highs of 16 C to a much chillier 1 C.

The Salvation Army's emergency shelter has 45 beds,all of which are being used. More than 30 are occupiedby refugee claimants,Stewart said.

There are also35 refugees staying in the centre's transition housing area, as well asmultiple refugee families in the family area.

The Centre of Hope has worked closely with the other shelters and organizations in Winnipeg to meet the demand, but alsorecognized it had enough space to expand within,said Stewart.

"We're kind of scattering [the 60 beds] throughout our building. We have an empty space on our second floor and then we have some spaces upstairswhich we usually use for overflow," he said.

"Really what we're doing is trying to create that space now so that when winter comes everybody has a safe, warm space."

The additional 60 beds, which will be available as of Monday,will bring the total number at the centre to 370.

"We're literally waiting for the beds to arrive so we can build them,"Stewartsaid. "We already have the mattresses.As we build them, we're going to be transferring people out of emergency shelter into these new bed spaces."

That will make room in the emergency intake area in anticipation of the colder weather.The centre will also add temporary beds as needed, Stewart added.

"At 1 a.m.people end up here, and we don't turn them away," he said.

"We've been known to open up our chapel, we've opened up our cafeteria. We just use spaces that are not usually used for sheltering to make sure that people can at least get inside, be warm."

It's not the first time the Centre of Hope has adapted to an influx of refugees, he said, noting that in2017, the Salvation Army created over 100 bed spaces for refugee claimants.

"So we're starting to kind of see those numbers rise again within the shelter system not just our shelter," he said.

The centreserves 900 meals per day, offers shower and laundry facilities, and works to connect residents with various supports, health care, access to programming and culturally appropriate and entirely optional spiritual care.