Winnipeggers are helping those in need while looking for shelter in the bitter winter. News Jani
Winnipeggers help those in need find shelter in the bitter winter.
Even in the bitter cold, Laurence Corbier spends his days outdoors however he pleases, but he knows some vulnerable people he meets in downtown Winnipeg don’t have the same opportunity.
“A couple of times I almost froze my fingers off. But I saw a man who lost all his toes because they were frozen.”
Corbier has a home but goes to the Lighthouse Mission and Siloam Mission to have lunch or warm up while he picks up garbage in the area.
He walks down Main Street dressed in orange, carrying a bucket to take out the trash. He feels the intense cold of one of the coldest winter days in his hands.
“It’s very difficult. It’s quite cold,” Courbere said on Friday, adjusting his hat after a gust of wind blew his head off.
“If I were a millionaire or rich, I would buy a barn…keep it [unhoused] Hot, get her off the street.”
After weeks of mild temperatures, a prolonged deep freeze prompts Winnipeg’s homeless shelters to work together to help people escape the cold.
The Lighthouse Mission, which provides warm clothing and food, expects demand for its services to increase. The organization places people who need a place to sleep and other organizations with necessary accommodation.
“Our strength is our relationship with other agencies that operate overnight accommodation,” said Director Peter McMillan.
“We connect with them, especially when there are people who are going through a really difficult time and maybe can’t figure out how to make it on their own.”
On Saturday, Helping Hand Warriors were stationed on Main Street in front of the Main Street Project to distribute coffee, soup and sandwiches to those in need.
“Our loved ones need food”
“We come out every Saturday and it doesn’t matter what the weather is – very hot, very cold like today,” said Angela Brass, a Helping Hands volunteer.
“We are out here because this is the time when our relatives need to eat. They need something warm inside.”
look Winnipeg Emergency Shelter strives to help those in need by:
Returning to colder winter temperatures, Winnipeg offers homeless shelters designed to help people escape the cold. It comes as a mild January gives way to a deep freeze in southern Manitoba.
Last winter reopened the doors to a new thermal shelter in the St. Vital district, which was put into operation after a woman died in a bus stop earlier this winter.
The summer room, which opens when the temperature drops, provided Tabitha Androsco with a safe place to live and play.
“It’s way better than any other shelter I’ve ever been to…because it’s safer and quieter,” Androsco said.
The shelter in the city-owned building is run by St. Boniface Street Links, who have been working with Androsco over the past few weeks to find him permanent housing. He said he was sure they would find a place to call their own.
The organization hopes to secure permanent housing for at least half of the people living with them this winter through negotiations with landlords and property managers.
Abraham Seidelbeck, who lives in a home with 15 beds, also counts on this help.
He has a job – which he says has given him hope for better days – but he still doesn’t have enough money left over to secure permanent housing.
Saddleback says he’s just trying to live a normal life.
“If it works for me, I’ll be like everyone else, work, own my own house and just make ends meet,” he said.
