Cold weather shelter in Prince Albert gets funding for another winter
YWCA says program helped prevent freezing deaths in city last year
A YWCA-led program in Prince Albert that helps shelter the homeless from frigid temperatures has received funding for another winter.
Two years ago, three homeless people froze to death on city streets.
Last year, the cold weather cot program at the YWCA Our House was launched to try and combat the problem. That winter, no one died from freezing on the streets.
"We did not have any freezing deaths in the city of Prince Albert last year. which I don't know how many years it's been since that happened, but usually there's at least one freezing death per year in this city," said Donna Brooks, CEO of the YWCA in Prince Albert.
The 10-bed shelter was pretty much full all last winter, Brooks added.
The program is unique because the people staying there can be intoxicated and can choose not to receive help if they don't want it.
The province donated $30,000 to the project and the federal government kicked in another $25,000. Plus, there was some leftover money from last year.
"It's a harm reduction model. It's a model that will keep people warm overnight so they're not trying to find a place to sleep, maybe in a dumpster, maybe somewhere simply because you have nowhere to go. This saves lives," said Brooks.
