Halifax is putting the finishing touches on a new plan to help the homeless during Nova Scotia’s extreme winter weather.
The new plan will kick into action if public health declares an extreme weather event. This includes temperatures below -15, wind chill as low as -21, or more than 25 centimeters of snow.
Organizations around the city will then coordinate their efforts to ensure that people get the help they need. These organizations include the Salvation Army, Turning Point, Adsum House, Mobile Outreach Street Health Program, among others.
Patty Melanson of MOSH has been involved in drawing up the plan.
"When they initiate a call and say this is an extreme weather event, then we as a community have a response to ensure the safety and security of individuals at risk,” she says.
Halifax Councilor Waye Mason says everyone involved will work together to find solutions.
"Shelters close or turn people out in the morning, so where do people go, to keep them warm?”
He says that in the case of an extreme weather event, the new plan will trigger a response to bring in extra staff for the warming centers and shelters, to add extra beds in shelters at night, and to have the warming center open during the day. Eventually, he says there could be several warming centers across the city.
Some hotels are donating rooms for shelter or warming center staff. One telephone company has also donated the hotline system and some cellphones.
Ed Hollett is a senior staff member at Hope Cottage, a potential warming center in the city.
"As long as they have a copy of that plan, so that we can inform people, and that other places have it so that people know what is open and what isn't in the case of an emergency."
The coordinated effort to implement the plan has been in the works for more than a year and a half.
