Calgary warming centres see close to 10,000 visits since Dec. 1 – Calgary

Since the beginning of December, nearly 10,000 visitors have visited various warming stations throughout the city as Calgary plunges back into extreme cold.

of additional warming space is part of Coordinated Community Extreme Weather Response, a partnership between the city and the Calgary Homeless Foundation to help Calgarians experiencing homelessness find shelter from the cold.

Earlier this week, the city resumed its emergency shelter shuttle service. The service provides transportation from various LRT stations to shelters in the city between 9:30pm and 3:00am.

These shipments are expected to continue until Friday.

Other transportation to the shelter, such as Alpha House’s DOAP team, are also available during cold weather.

salvation army mobile warming station We also stopped at the Heritage LRT and Marlborough stations on Wednesday.

“Calgary winters are not easy for people to survive, and we are coming together to at least do something about it,” Salvation Army resource specialist Houria Ansari told Global News.

The mobile warming station is a pop-up tent that can accommodate up to 40 people per day and is equipped with warm food and drinks, propane heaters, and winter gear for those experiencing homelessness.

“Our intention here is to interact with people who are currently using the station to stay warm. I got

“Basically, we go to places where people need to go, provide hot meals and cold weather gear, and move them to shelters.”

According to the Calgary Homeless Foundation, Calgary emergency shelter occupancy is currently about 77%.

Officials at the drop-in center said the return of cold weather had slightly increased the number of people seeking services, as 654 people took shelter at a capacity of 1,028 on Tuesday night.

A spokesperson for the shelter told Global News that about 375 beds are available each night.

More than 60 people gathered at Mustard Seed’s daytime warming center at noon on Wednesday, many of them spending the night in shelters or sleeping in the cold.

“They’re going through that cold, they’re going through frostbite and even the early signs of it, and they’re looking for a nice warm place to warm up, coffee, food, and hang out,” says Mustard Seed’s Street Level. said Clinton Siebert, a supervisor at He said.

“It can be hard to see. Conditions are bad, maybe worse than we can imagine.”

Data from the Alberta Health Service (AHS) revealed a spike in frostbite cases affecting Calgary’s homeless population last winter.

Calgary emergency departments and clinics had 701 diagnoses of frostbite in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, 65 of which required amputation, according to AHS.

Siebert said that while many people in global warming centers are looking for hot meals, many are also looking for better clothing to cope with the colder weather.

“This includes a lot of gloves, toques and winter jackets,” says Siebert.

“It’s been really hot the last few weeks, so I’m a little unprepared for this level of cold.”

Mustard Seed also offers transportation to overnight shelters, and the Daytime Warming Center is open daily from 7am to 7pm.

The City of Calgary has committed $2.3 million over four years to fund a coordinated winter response through its Community Safety Investment Framework.

Ward 11 count. Courtney Penner said partnering with community groups and the Calgary Homeless Foundation has been successful with a coordinated approach to responding to the winter season this year.

“We will continue to review and evaluate how the program is performing and build on its success,” said Penner. “I think we have learned a lot from last year and we continue to develop it further.”

anyone needs I want to go somewhere in the cold You can call or text 211 or visit ab.211.caAlso, if you see someone needing help, call the Downtown Outreach Addiction Partnership at 403-998-7388.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.