Winnipeg's homeless lack continuous health care, clothing during cold weather
'There's a saying the rich stay healthy and sick stay poor'
Winnipeg's homeless, suffering through the extreme cold, are facing a dire situation as their health issues are being compounded by the frigid weather.
Dr. Neil Craton, who has volunteered at the Siloam Mission's health centre for the past 10 years, said the lack of regular health care is a major issue for the city's most vulnerable.
"I think continuity of health care is a very important tenet in good health care, and at the mission you only provide episodic care. We're kind of a Band-Aid," said Craton.
"Most of these people are transient, they're just blowing through, so they don't have access to good ongoing health care."
The problem is compounded by what people are wearing on the streets, he said.
"The clothes required to sustain yourself outside in these temperatures is difficult [even] for the affluent, so if you're a person in poverty it's often very, very hard to afford appropriate clothing," he said.
"If our tuque gets wet, well I can just get my other two. That's something they don't have. Simple things become a real problem for people who are lost in homelessness."
The cold also brings people together, and because we're together, we'll share our viruses and bacteria more easily.- Dr. Neil Craton
Craton said in his decade working with Siloam almost all the patients he's seen are already suffering from existing issues. So when they catch a cold or flu it makes their condition far worse.
"There's a saying the rich stay healthy and sick stay poor. We see evidence of that everyday at the mission."
While a regular person can escape daily activities and often quarantine themselves, that isn't an option that is readily available to those relying on shelters, Craton added.
"The cold also brings people together, and because we're together, we'll share our viruses and bacteria more easily," he said.
"They're eating with 500 people and sleeping with 120 people every night, so it's very easy to come down with something significant."
The downtown-based homeless shelter says more people are coming through their doors dealing with a variety of health issues.
"Right now we're seeing a really big increase in prolonged headaches and body aches. We're seeing a lot of cold and flu symptoms," said Sierra Noble, communications officer at Siloam Mission.
More than 60 per cent of the people accessing the shelter's services are above the age of 50, she added.
"Our older community members, who are exasperated with arthritis, there's a lot of underlying health concerns made worse by the extreme cold," she said.
"At this time of this year it's hard for the best of us. When you're experiencing homelessness you have a lot of variables and unknown in your life that is compounded by cold weather."
'A little bit scary'
For Siloam and other shelters, they're trying to help keep people layered up when out in the cold as well as educate them on the dangers.
"We provide a lot of education to our community in our health centre: how to prevent frostbite, how to keep your skin protected from developing frostbite," Noble said.
Siloam offers a clothing room to help outfit anyone who needs warmer layers, but during a winter with prolonged cold like this one, the supply is running short.
"We've been handing out mismatched gloves," said Noble. "We're just trying to get gloves on hands so we don't see frostbite. [It's] a little bit scary that we're short on jackets and gloves right now."
The mission is looking for donations of any warm clothing, mainly jackets, gloves, tuques and socks to help keep people warm for the remainder of the winter.
Anyone who encounters someone struggling in the cold is encouraged to call non-emergency services at 204-986-6222.
