Homeless shelters ready for cold weather rush

The cold weather has pushed up demand for space in Calgary's homeless shelters.

The Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre has had an increase of 100 to 150 people a night but staff said there's space for everyone in the shelter, which has a capacity of 1,250.

"We now have a winter response plan, a winter emergency response plan. That means Nov. 1, we have additional funding to hire staff to be able to manage increased beds," said spokeswoman Louise Gallagher.

Carmen, one of the clients packed into the second floor of the Drop-In Centre who didn't want his last name used, said he makes sure to get inside when it's cold now, a hard lesson he learned a few years ago.

"I learned because I lost my hands, because of crack cocaine and alcohol I passed out ... and it was so cold," he said.

Mustard Seed spokeswoman Alyssa Burnham said the situation is similar at the Mustard Seed, which was housing 260 to 280 people a night in December, but housed 321 on Wednesday night.

"Every time that the temperatures drops, we do see an increase in both the number of people staying at our shelter as well as the number of people accessing our other programs and services," she said.

The Mustard Seed has also found permanent housing for 145 people in the last nine months, she said.

"Those are 145 people who are no longer accessing the shelter system and instead have their own homes to go to at night," she said.