LAC LA BICHE – The Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter Society (LOESS) is looking at possible options for a new location for its transitional housing facility.
The facility, which is comprised of five camp trailers on seven acres of fenced, municipally owned land near Alexander Hamilton Park, moved to its current location in January 2024. Prior to the shelter opening, it operated as a one-room shelter in a residential neighbourhood in the hamlet of Lac La Biche.
Lenora Lemay, board chair for LOESS, said on June 2, staff with the organization made a presentation to Lac La Biche County council. She explained that LOESS asked members of council for six months to work with Lac La Biche County administration to be able to find a more suitable location for the transitional housing facility.
“We’re still exploring our options to see where that might be,” she told Lakeland This Week. “We don’t know what the outcome will be.”
Additional land, according to Lemay, is a factor that has come into play when deciding to make the move to a different locale, one that will enable the organization to offer the same programming it does now, along with additional activities.
“We need a space that has land,” she said.
Having more room to move, Lemay explained, will allow LOESS to do more traditional, land-based cultural learning for its clientele, most of whom are Indigenous. It will also create an opportunity for staff and clients to put in gardens and grow vegetables.
“We want to be able to go out and do the teachings so that people become more grounded in who they are,” she said.
While LOESS hasn’t experienced any issues on its property since moving, according to Lemay, there have been concerns about the shelter’s proximity to the park area, especially with clients who are recovering.
“We want to make sure that everyone feels safe,” she said.
If the shelter does relocate to another location, Lemay continued, LOESS officials are hoping wherever it goes that they will be able to pack up the facility and take it with them.
“This has become home for everyone,” she said.
Because of the way that the trailers were purchased, Lemay said, the organization is required to use them for five years for the purpose of housing clients. This, she added, is part of an agreement with Lac La Biche County.
As far as having a larger facility in the future, Lemay said if LOESS was offering different programming, it would expand and acquire additional trailers. However, there is an emphasis by the organization to get more clients living in affordable housing in the Lac La Biche area while still providing them with programs and services during the day.
“Our hope is that once we get the people into the community, we won’t need a bigger space,” she said.
