Burst pipes temporarily force evening homeless shelter from Osborne Village church

A local program that allows more than a dozen people to have a safe, warm place to sleep has been moved after pipes burst in the Winnipeg church where the program is run.

Just a Warm Sleep, a program run by 1JustCity, got a phone call from Augustine United Church in Osborne Village just after 9 a.m. New Year's Day that the church's pipes had burst, radiators had erupted and the church had no heat.

"I got the call this morning at 9:18, my husband watched my face drop and immediately grabbed my hand," said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, spokesperson for Just a Warm Sleep.

Just A Warm Sleep provides nightime shelter for about 25 people during the cold winter months. Last year, they were able to provide shelter for two months for 15 people out of the church during January and February.

This year, they were hoping to provide shelter for 25 people after volunteers wove sleeping mats out of shopping bags for those who needed them.

However, after frantic phone calling on a day when most people are at home, two local churches have stepped up to help out while repairs take place at the church, said Blaikie Whitecloud.

Young United Church in Crossways in Common, along with Crescent Fort Rouge United Church, offered temporary space, and since the organisation already works with Crossways in Common, people will be moved there.

The challenge will be getting the word out on New Year's Day for their guests, said Blaikie Whitecloud.

"We're going to put signage up at the church this afternoon as well as signage up at Crossways in Common itself, so at one space saying 'Sorry, everything's closed.' Oak Table, our 1JustCity charity also operates out of Augustine United Church, so this puts their regular daytime guests in a lurch. 

"And so we're hoping that all of this can be resolved very shortly.

"Now we're just trying to arrange transport for the hours that we normally would do intake, which is 10 to 11 p.m. so that people can get moved over to the right space."

Blaikie Whitecloud said while the morning was stressful, she knew local organizations would come through.

"I knew that our community and the 1JustCity donor community, I was just going to keep on phoning places until 10 p.m. came and went, until somebody finally said there would be a space. But I really did know … by end of day, we would have another space open, and that's the amazing thing about Winnipeg."

The group expects to be out of Augustine United Church for about two weeks while repairs are being made.

Volunteers who want more information about the change can contact volunteer@1justcity.ca, said Blaikie Whitecloud.