Calgary outreach workers are scrambling to ensure no one is left exposed to the elements.
The Downtown Outreach Addictions Program, or DOAP team, has been fielding dozens of calls to help Calgary’s most vulnerable.
The team is on-call 24/7, driving people to shelters or the hospital.
“People are usually pretty frantic to get to shelters when it’s this cold,” Teigen Welkert said, a DOAP outreach worker with the Alpha House Society. “During the winter, I’d say we’re looking at 80 calls or more throughout the day.”
When it’s bitterly cold, the DOAP team is often stretched thin. Shelters fill up by 9 p.m., leaving some people who are homeless without a safe place to sleep.
“We’ve kept people in our van for multiple hours, until there’s space in a shelter,” Welkert said.
When it’s cold, there’s a desperate appeal for warm winter supplies like sleeping bags, jackets, gloves and touques.
“On a nightly basis, we usually run out pretty fast,” Welkert said.
Donations can be dropped off at the Alpha House at 203 15 Ave SE.