The Scattered Site homeless shelter which is operated by the Kikinahk Friendship Centre opened its doors for the season in October. It was a slow start to the winter season this year and now that temperatures are falling in the north more people are needing to use the shelter.
The shelter has been running for 24 hours a day since opening and has the capacity to take in about 22 people per night. Depending on funding for this season the shelter expects to be running until March or April of this year.
“We’re always looking for more space,” said Scattered Site Program Manager Tina Johnson. “We haven’t really noticed a decline in our client base, it’s been slowly increasing over the past few years and don’t see that changing,”
Last year the shelter saw about 200 people come in and some clients stayed for over 40 days. The shelter has been just as busy this year and has had some struggles in finding donations.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we have an amazing team this year, we’re pretty solid with our staff. Donations have been kind of slow but it’s understandable because folks are feeling the pinch of their own finances,” explained Johnson.
Specifically, the shelter has been struggling to get donations of adult sized winter clothing this season. Items like winter jackets, long underwear, toques, ski pants, gloves or any warm winter clothing are what the shelter is looking for.
To donate you can drop items off directly at the Scattered Site Shelter or at the Kikinahk Friendship Centre.