As winter weather bears down, the situation is growing more desperate for the homeless in Moncton.
Friday, Mayor Dawn Arnold met with the new New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves to ask for help in getting the most vulnerable off the streets.
“We see today that there is snow falling,” City of Moncton spokeswoman Isabelle Leblanc said on Friday. “Certainly, it's coming into a critical time.”
The federal government has a new program to combat homelessness, but funds from that initiative will only trickle down to municipalities in the new year. Leblanc says something needs to be done now.
“We want to find a solution to try to help people who don't have a warm place to stay,” she said.
City staff made a request Thursday for immediate assistance from the province to help with the homeless situation in Moncton.
At Friday’s meeting with Steeves, Arnold shared the city’s idea to create pop-up shelters for the winter.
“This is something that we desperately need right now,” said Lisa Ryan, who is with the YMCA’s Reconnect program. She says the city's pursuit of these shelters is good -- for now.
“It's not a long-term solution, but what it does is it ensures that the individuals that are outside have access to a safe and warm space,” Ryan said.
It seems the number of people needing such assistance is growing.
Outreach worker Darcy Cormier says the level of visible homelessness is higher than ever.
“Part of it is, we don't have a drop-in centre anymore for people to go to during the day anymore,” Cormier said. “We've had some rooming-house closures, granted they weren't ideal places to live, but they become almost a necessary evil.”
In addition to the requested aid from the provincial and federal governments, Moncton city council recently added $100,000 to their budget to help community outreach programs.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
