A heat wave across the province might be exciting for some hoping to catch rays before retreating into air conditioning, but for the homeless population in Lethbridge, the high temperatures are presenting some risks.
“A lot of us look forward to this kind of weather. We can hardly wait. We moan and grumble and complain that it’s not hot enough,” said Bill Ginther, director of the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, on Wednesday, “but we don’t think about how it impacts folks that are homeless.”
Facilities around the city that help Lethbridge’s vulnerable population have been keeping close tabs on their clients this week as temperatures have jumped into the 30s.
“We’re looking for heat exhaustion, heatstroke. We’re talking to people about dehydration,” said Kathy Christiansen, executive director of Alpha House, the Calgary-based organization that took control of the Lethbridge homeless shelter in the spring.
“One of the things that we’re focused on is talking to clients about how to protect themselves during a heat wave. So No. 1, adequate hydration, but also talking about limiting time being exposed to the sunlight.”
But getting out of the sun is easier said than done when you have nowhere to go.
“It impacts me quite a bit when there’s no place or anywhere to go get shade because you’re always told to move somewhere when you’re homeless,” said a homeless guest at the soup kitchen.
“It’s hard to get any shade, so you end up more or less getting heatstroke every single day.”
Ginther said being turned away from public places becomes even more of a problem for the homeless population when it’s hot and they are looking for air-conditioned spaces.
“People look for shade, they look for places like the mall, the library, but sadly, as cool as those places are, people are not that receptive to having them come,” he said.
Ginther said the soup kitchen has put an even greater emphasis on providing indoor activities for guests, like bingo and art classes, so that people can get out of the heat and hydrate for a couple of hours at a time.
Next door at the shelter, Christiansen said the facility’s capacity has decreased to about a 90-person maximum because of COVID-19 restrictions, but so far, the demand hasn’t outweighed the supply of space.
Both Ginther and Christiansen said their facilities are happily accepting donations like bottled water.
“If you are out and about and you see a person that really needs it — doesn’t have to be homeless, just somebody who is really struggling — give them a bottle of water,” Ginther said.
“It’s not going to hurt you but it will certainly help them.”
Temperatures in Lethbridge are expected to remain in the 30s through the upcoming August long weekend.