WATCH ABOVE: When temperatures plunge it’s hard to be outside for more than a few minutes, but thousands of Edmontonians don’t have a home to escape from the cold. Shallima Maharaj had a chance to step inside Hope Mission’s overflow shelter.
EDMONTON — The city’s old Remand Centre has become a place of refuge for dozens of homeless Edmontonians on freezing winter nights.
“January has been incredibly cold so we’ve seen about 60 people every night,” said the Hope Mission’s Robin Padanyi of its new overflow space.
That’s just a fraction of the roughly 600 individuals the Hope Mission houses each night at its other facilities. The numbers are among the highest in the shelter’s 85-year history.
“Hope Mission’s biggest shelter which is our Herb Jamieson Centre, that’s for men specifically, was starting to see numbers so high that we were starting to have mats in the hallways…to keep people warm. So when you start to see those numbers getting really high, there’s a definite need to look elsewhere for space.”
The Hope Mission didn’t have to look far. The old Remand Centre is just down the street from its main building.
READ MORE: A look inside Edmonton’s old Remand Centre
After discussions with Alberta Infrastructure, the facility’s gymnasium was opened up in late November to those who needed a safe and warm space to spend the night.
It’s been a welcome reprieve for those like Benjamin Reiter, who has spent the past eight years on the street.
“I realize how bad it is out there more and more every day,” he said.
Roberts knows first-hand what it’s like to be out in the cold with no place to go, as he was once homeless himself. He now has a full-time job as well as a roof over his head, but the nights bring back memories of what the city’s homeless often endure.
“I know what it’s like where they are. There’s loneliness, there’s hate…People need to be compassionate and understanding. They’re hurting. We don’t know their circumstances. We don’t know what they went through.”
READ MORE: Progress made, but much work remains to end homelessness in Edmonton
Homeward Trust’s homeless count for 2014 found there were 2,252 people without a home in Edmonton. About 16 per cent of the homeless population arrived in Edmonton within the last year; 47 per cent of the individuals are aboriginal.
READ MORE: Vacant Vancouver jail transforms into affordable, low-income housing
The Hope Mission has recently received approval to raise its nightly capacity at the Remand Centre to 100 people. It hasn’t decided when it will do so.
With files from Shallima Maharaj, Global News
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