With the weather turning numbingly cold in Calgary, homeless advocates and those serving the city’s vulnerable population are concerned about the effects of staying outside in minus-20 C weather.
“Once those temperatures drop, especially the temperatures below -10, -15 start to set in, just to be still for a few minutes and not have the blood circulating can lead to frostbite within minutes,” Drop-In Center program supervisor Chris Kavanagh said. “This can lead to major problems, including amputations and some very serious infections.”
Kavanagh remembers seeing one man whose time on the streets in cold weather led to a number of consequences.
“It was an image that will probably stay in my mind forever,” he said.
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“There was one man who had a number of his toes amputated and was in severe pain and constantly being monitored for infection. And that’s something that really impacts our staff because it will affect the quality of this person’s life forever.”
Daily low temperatures will drop below -20 all week. Friday’s mercury is expected to hit -25 C. With wind chills, conditions can feel even colder.
“We expect a need, especially for winter clothing, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, because we do have a lot of refugees and newcomers who are struggling and going to experience their very first winter here. And demand for our apparel program has exploded over the past few months,” Kavanagh said.
The Drop-In isn’t the only organization in the city trying to get cold weather gear to those in need.
Gordy Hoffman of Project Warmth said he has seen annual increased demands for the items he gives out “especially now with inflation and with the refugee situation and just with the unemployment and everything – it’s a bit of a mess out there.
“That’s what we’re there for. We are just overwhelmed.”
Hoffman said his organization, which distributes items such as clothing and sleeping bags, sees demand year-round. And despite the increased demand, he is determined to meet the demand.
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“We’re just going to keep doing it and doing it and getting it to the point where we have enough. We have never run out over the 20 plus years.”
Warm clothes aren’t the only comfort people experiencing homelessness have in Calgary. The Calgary Homeless Foundation runs a number of warming centers across the city. The centers provide a place to warm up, socialize, get a snack and seek other services during the day.
“We have this wide range of partners and willing people who are incredible and work with vulnerable people to support them, to get them what they need,” said foundation president Patricia Jones.
“Ultimately, our goal is to get people either to shelter or to services so they can finally have a home and the support they need to thrive. And whether that means mental health and addiction supports, medical supports, psychiatric supports, they can choose.”
Chaz Smith of Be The Change YYC said he has seen some of his organization’s clients in other places in the winter trying to stay warm.
“I was at the mall the other day. I saw a lot of people I recognized in the mall,” he said. “(They) also hang out at train stations, in shops, Tim Hortons, McDonald’s, ride buses all day.
“So we know that there are many hot spaces during the day.”
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But Smith said the people he and his team work with on the street often face barriers to accessing other services, due to feelings of being at risk as a minority by nature of gender, race or sexual orientation , or even have pets that they don’t have. want to give up
“We need to continue the conversations about why people don’t have access or can’t access emergency shelters because they’re intake points,” he said.
Jones said shelters around the city are at about 75 percent capacity. Effective December 1, 200 more spaces will be added to the existing 135. She said the homeless foundation has daily monitoring from partners such as police, bylaw, transit and 911.
“We would never wait until December 1st to activate if there was a need before December 1st. We’re only expanding on December 1st to ensure between December and March when we usually have our coldest months, that we have enough support for people in the community,” Jones said.
Smith wants to see the conversation open up beyond temporary shelters, citing an affordable housing statistic released by Scotiabank in early 2022.
“We were actually one of the least in all G7 countries,” he said.
“We actually have a supply and demand issue when it comes to housing: we have more demand than we have supply.
“And I think in this conversation we need to continue to talk about that because the province and the federal government have a responsibility to provide housing because in Canada it’s a human right.”
Anyone who needs somewhere to go in the cold can call or text 211 or visit ab.211.ca. And if you see someone who needs help, you can call the Downtown Outreach Addiction Partnership at 403-998-7388.
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