'We've never really had to do this before': Smaller Maritime communities establish winter warming centres

New warming centres are open in smaller Maritime communities this winter in response to a dramatic increase in people experiencing homelessness.

Overnight winter shelters are operating for the first time in St. Stephen, N.B., and Amherst, N.S.

Kendall Kadatz is part of a working group formed this past summer in St. Stephen, following a visible increase in people living outside.

“Most communities know they’re working with hidden homelessness on an ongoing basis,” says Kadatz. “People are struggling for housing, they’re couch surfing. They’re right on the edge of it.”

“There’s been much more housing pressure in the past couple of years. There’s been some apartments that have got cleared out this year that contributed to that as well.”

“Lack of apartments, rent rates, inflation; all of those things are just putting a pinch on in several areas.” 

A survey from the working group this past fall found 30 respondents who didn’t have adequate shelter heading into the winter months. Of the 30 respondents, about half reported losing reliable shelter only recently.

Kadatz says the town’s warming centre, open daily from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., is only the first step to creating a long-term solution.

“It really seems like it’s a nationwide issue, so we don’t feel alone in the sense that ‘oh, this is just us,’” says Kadatz. “But a lot of communities, I think, feel alone, and say ‘we’ve never really had to do this before, how do we do it?’ We’re really thankful here that so many people and so many organizations just stepped up to the table immediately to say ‘we have to do something about this.’”

In Amherst, N.S., a 20-bed emergency shelter is now open at Crossroads Community Church. It will operate daily from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. until April 30.

Mayor Dr. David Kogon says the town estimates between 40 to 45 people are living with homelessness in the immediate area, calling it “a growing problem and now a significant concern in our community.”                                                       

“So it was felt to be a very important point to get a protective shelter in place for this winter,” says Kogon. “It’s a protective thing. This is not a long-term solution. This is an emergency shelter for the nighttime, during the winter. It’s to prevent any deaths from exposure through the winter nights.”

Additional emergency warming centres are also operating in more urban areas around the region this winter, including Halifax, Dartmouth, N.S., Lower Sackville, N.S., Moncton, N.B., and Saint John, N.B.