Bitter cold has Winnipeggers looking for housing, supporting those in need
'I've seen a guy, he lost all his fingertips because they froze,' man says of cold's impact
Even in the biting cold, Lawrence Corbiere spends his days outside by choice, but he knows some of the vulnerable people he meets in Winnipeg's inner city don't have the same option.
"My fingertips nearly froze a couple times. But I've seen a guy, he lost all his fingertips because they froze."
Corbiere has a home, but drops into the Lighthouse Mission and Siloam Mission to pick up lunch or warm up while picking up litter in the area.
He walks Main Street, dressed in orange clothing and carrying a bucket to dispose of the garbage he finds. He feels the blustery cold of one of winter's most frigid days in his hands.
"It's pretty hard. It's pretty cold," Corbiere said on Friday, while adjusting the cap that a gust of wind blew off his head moments ago.
"If I was a millionaire, or if I was rich, I would buy a warehouse … keep the [unhoused] warm, get them off the street."
After weeks of milder temperatures, a sustained deep freeze is prompting Winnipeg's homeless shelters to work together to help people escape the cold.
Lighthouse Mission, which gives out warm clothing and food, is expecting a spike in demand for their services. The organization refers people needing somewhere sleep to other organizations with the necessary accommodations.
"Our strength is our connection to the other agencies that do have overnight shelters," director Peter McMullen said.
"We connect with them, especially when there's individuals who are really having a tough time and maybe they just can't figure out how to do it on their own."
WATCH | Winnipeg shelters strive to help those in need:
People trying to stay in Winnipeg shelters say overnight space is hard to find right now.
Siloam Mission, Salvation Army and others at capacity have been sending people in need to Main Street Project or wherever there might be beds, according to the centres. Late Saturday, few available beds remained at N'Dinawemak, at 190 Disraeli.
Cassandra Sohor says she has struggled lately to access overnight shelter.
"[Beds] are hard to come by these days," she said.
"Sometimes you go down to the hotels at Sutherland [Avenue] and people that have next to nothing, we're all supporting each other with simple things like bread and getting what we need."
Helping Hand Warriors was stationed in front of Main Street Project to give coffee, soup and sandwiches to people like Sohor. She said community members are also looking out for each other.
"When it's cold out and you have no place to go, just keep on walking…never pass out and if the shelters are full, find a couch to surf on," she advises.
'Our relatives need the food'
"We come out every Saturday and we come no matter the weather — really hot, really cold like today," said Angela Brass, who volunteers with Helping Hands.
"We're out here because this is the time that our relatives need the food. They need the warm food inside of them."
The recent cold snap has reopened the doors of a new warming shelter in the St. Vital neighbourhood, which began operating following the death of a woman at a bus shelter earlier this winter..
The warming place, which opens when temperatures plunge, gave Tabitha Andrusko a safe to play to stay.
"It's a lot better than any other shelter that I've been in … because it's safer, quieter," Andrusko said.
The shelter in a city-owned building is run by St. Boniface Street Links, which has been working with Andrusko over the last few weeks to find her permanent housing. She said she's confident they'll find her a place to call her own.
The organization hopes to provide permanent housing to at least half of the people who stay with them during this cold snap, in discussions with with landlords and property management companies.
Abraham Saddleback, who's staying at the shelter with 15 beds, is counting on that help, too.
He has a job — which he says has given him hope of better days — but he has yet to save enough money to secure permanent housing.
Saddleback says he's just striving for a normal life.
"If this works out for me then like I'll be just like every other person, working, having their own home and just getting by," he said.
With files from CBC's Josh Crabb and Ian Froese, Radio-Canada's Victor Lhoest