A combined effort of municipal resources, the Lakeland Out of the Elements Society, local advocacy groups, Portage College and local business has managed to keep many of the area’s homeless warm and sheltered during the recent cold snap.
The freezing cold temperatures in recent days have heated up local discussion toward the well-being of homeless and vulnerable people within the Lac La Biche County.
Lac La Biche County’s Community Services boss Darrell Lessmeister said on Tuesday that almost a dozen people have found appropriate shelter in the region as overnight temperatures have dropped below minus 30 degrees Celsius for much of the last week.
“We have worked with community groups and are accommodating and providing places so there is a place for those people to go,” Lessmeister said.
Shelter helpers
Over the last few days, half a dozen vulnerable people have been housed at the Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter in Lac La Biche and eight more have been housed in rooms at the Almac Hotel. Cots and indoor space have also been made available at Portage College as an “overflow”, said Lessmeister.
While several groups have banded together in recent days to offer immediate supports, municipal officials say the Out of the Elements Shelter should be the first-contact on the issue. The shelter does have access to emergency funding to pay for accommodations during extreme weather, and anyone looking for assistance should contact them directly, said Lessmeister.
The not-for-profit shelter can be reached at 780-623-3284
Larger issue
The majority of the people now receiving warm shelter are associated with a “tent city” establishment in a wooded area north of the Lac La Biche downtown. Not everyone from the encampment took the offer for help, however.
Lessmeister said regular well-being visits to the site by municipal peace officers over the last week couldn’t persuade at least two of the regular residents to find more appropriate shelter.
Issues involving mental health and addictions have challenged attempts to clear the camp and re-locate the people using it. Even with the sub-zero temperatures, many of the community’s vulnerable population may not want to find better shelter due to alcohol or drug dependency, issues with the law or psychological issues. Some have also been banned from the local shelter for inappropriate or dangerous behaviour and intoxication.
Lac La Biche County councillor Lorin Tkachuk said RCMP intervention in some of those cases is, unfortunately, another short-term solution for their own safety and the safety of others.
“When people might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they can be very unpredictable. I think police cells are the best place for them,” said Tkachuk, but adding that offering temporary shelter does little to change the larger issues. “We need to address the wrap-around services these people really need… just getting them a bed doesn’t solve the bigger issues.”
Housing plan
To help with that, municipal officials have recently created a Transitional Housing Committee made up of community members. The idea is to create a long-term plan to address the growing issues of homelessness in the community. One of those outcomes could be a facility to house people while offering treatments. Lac La Biche County councillors have ear-marked $500,000 in the 2021 budget to go towards a possible federal and provincial partnership to create the facility. A formal plan on the transitional housing project is expected before next winter.
Until then — and as the current winter weather continues to make homelessness a life-and-death issue, municipal officials are saying community partners have served the immediate need.
“I think we have solved this issue for the number of people we are serving,” said county councillor Sterling Johnson.
Calls for comments were made to the Out of the Elements Shelter, but a response was not received by the first version of this article. Information will be updated as it becomes available.
