Brandon temporary overnight drop-in centre opens just in time for winter weather

An overnight drop-in centre for people experiencing homelessness in Brandon has already opened its doors, just in time for dropping temperatures.

Dante Pashe helped get the drop-in ready for its opening night Monday. He wants the temporary shelter, operated by the Brandon Friendship Centre, to be a place of camaraderie where people can get a meal and hot drink while they escape the frigid Manitoba winter.

"This is their space to be warm, safe for these cold nights," Pashe said.

The temporary overnight drop-in will be operated by the Brandon Friendship Centre out of Life's Journey, an Indigenous-led non-profit located on Princess Avenue. It will be open from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. until March 31 using $350,000 in funding from Manitoba Housing, Addiction and Homelessness.

There's been strong demand for a winter overnight drop-in shelter in Brandon.

In October 2022, Brandon's only overnight shelter — which doesn't operate 24 hours a day — was already past capacity. To address the shelter space shortage, Safe and Warm officially opened The Q, a temporary overflow warming shelter in December.

In 2023 the Brandon Neighborhood Renewal Corporation started planning to operate the drop-in out of the Life's Journey location, and it opened in January.

Pashe says people need another option outside Safe and Warm — especially if the shelter passes its 41-person capacity.

"If it's gonna be cold, if it's like 30 below or something, where they gonna go?" he said. "Nothing else is open."

He thinks with the opening of the shelter the city is more prepared then ever to look after people experiencing homelessness this winter.

More options needed

Barbara McNish, executive director of Samaritan House Ministries, which operates the Safe and Warm Shelter, says the number of people the organization sees is always on the rise.

Currently, they see around 35 people sleep at the shelter each night — but that number will rise as the temperature drops, McNish said. Last year Safe and Warm had about 475 unique stays that accounted for about 11,000 visits.

This makes it essential to have other overnight options for people experiencing homelessness or precarious housing in the southwestern Manitoba city, she said.

"We are pleased that there's another option besides just out on the street," she said.

Heather Bolech, Safe and Warm Shelter manager, says they haven't had to turn anyone away yet this year, but she feels better knowing there's another option to send people to.

The number of people who need services like Safe and Warm has only increased since the first temporary shelter came to Brandon a city of 54,000 people, she said.

The number of people experiencing homelessness has been growing, according to Brandon's Homelessness Individuals and Families Information System — a database that tracks the number of homeless people in the city.

In 2023 it registered 1,143 people receiving homelessness services — an increase of 280 people compared to 2022.

The temporary drop-in can help ensure everyone has a safe place to go while letting people choose where they want to spend the night.

"It's empowering ... for a person to be able to choose not to come to us and go to another space and still know that they're going to be safe," Bolech said.

Pashe's going to work with drop-in clients to help them feel like it's a place of safety where they can trust staff. He wants it to be a place where the community gathers.

"Even if they ... come in on a hungry belly or some empty belly and they come in and eat, [we can] help them. Whatever makes them feel happy," Pashe said, adding there's going to be "a whole lot of fun and laughter ... when everybody gets comfortable."