Inuvik's wet shelter to reopen Oct. 15 with 4 full-time staff
'The reality is that homelessness continues to grow in Inuvik,' says shelter chair Matthew Clark
After closing during the warm summer months, the wet shelter in Inuvik, N.W.T., will reopen its doors Oct. 15.
The shelter offers beds and hot meals to guests whether they are sober or intoxicated.
This year the shelter is opening two months earlier and with more money.
“The reality is that homelessness continues to grow in Inuvik,” says Matthew Clark, chair of the shelter's board. “So we are allowing for an increase in the number of people that stay with us this winter.”
This year, the shelter will operated with four full-time staff members, instead of four part-time staff, thanks to an increase in funding from the N.W.T. government.
Workers will also refer clients to community health and social programs, but most of all they want to focus on their mission: preventing another homeless person from freezing to death in the cold.
“We opened this to keep people alive,” Clark says.
The shelter’s budget is now $300,000.