LAC LA BICHE - Lenora LeMay, the chair of the Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter Society (LOESS), said since opening Lac La Biche’s new transitional housing facility two months ago, residents are getting settled in, and staff are working with them to find continuing supports.
In mid-January, the Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter Society opened the doors to its new transitional housing facility near the Alexander Hamilton Community Park. The facility is comprised of five camp trailers on seven acres of fenced property owned by the municipality.
Getting things going, explained Lemay, is not a race — it’s a careful process.
“Things are moving along in a way that we anticipated they would…slowly,” she told Lakeland This Week.
Prior to moving to the new location, the shelter operated out of a one-room facility in a residential neighborhood in the hamlet of Lac La Biche. Because there is considerably more room in this new facility, LeMay says the socieity is able to do more work with service providers like Community Health, whose staff she says, have been making weekly visits to the shelter.
The opening of the new facility coincided with one of several severe cold-weather weeks in the region. Because it was so cold outside, people in need utilized the facility quite quickly, LeMay said, adding there was enough room available during that cold spell and that staff were able to get their routines settled because the clients stayed inside.
LeMay said the organization had plenty of assistance when making the move, including local RCMP and peace officers helping clients to find the shelter. Furthermore, she added, LOESS had the use of the Lac La Biche County bus, which they relied on heavily.
“It was way easier than any of us anticipated,” she said.
LeMay said presently, the shelter receives up to 10 clients per night. She says warmer weather in recent weeks have reduced client numbers, as many still choose to live outdoors. LeMay hopes the programming offered through the transitional housing can show clients a pathway to securing full-time housing. More than 90 per cent of the clients are Indigenous, LeMay continued, and Indigenous cultural wellness plays a big part in the programming.
This summer, she said, one of the priorities of LOESS will be to make sure anyone who is experiencing homelessness feels welcomed at the shelter and is able to access services.
“We’re going help try and draw them to our services, so that they know that we’re there and what we can do and that they can feel comfortable staying there.”
Open (transitional) House
On April 27, LOESS is holding its grand opening in partnership with Lac La Biche County. The event begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m., and includes tours of the shelter, sn opening ceremony, and lunch.
LeMay said the open house gives the community an opportunity to not only see the facility, but also to see what staff and residents have been working on and the progress being made. She added the organization is always looking for volunteers, and this is another way of getting the public familiar with LOESS.
“I think it’s really important…our tagline is ‘it takes a community to beat homelessness’,” she said.
