The only homeless shelter in Selkirk, Man. has been forced to close its doors.
St. Francis Place hasn’t opened since January 1 because of a lack of volunteers. Right now there are no female volunteers and since the shelter is co-ed the facility needs women to supervise.
Run by the Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, the shelter has six beds serving as emergency shelter for the city’s homeless. It opened in 2014.
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Rene Gauther, who is the chairperson of Our Daily Bread, told Global News usage of the shelter has also been shrinking.
“We can say right now 15 per cent are homeless people the other 85 per cent are people using it as a hostel,” he said. “In December we had 20 people who stayed in the shelter and the four last days of December, the coldest days, we had no guests so we are wondering if there is a need for a shelter in Selkirk.”
Gauthier said last year the shelter was at capacity four times. He said the board of directors will re-evaluate the volunteer levels in February before deciding the fate of St. Francis Place.
If you are interested in volunteers you can fill out an application in person at Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in the Memorial Hall in Selkirk at 368 Jemima Street from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Monday to Friday.
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