'My clients need help': Despite lack of funding, Fort Simpson warming centre keeps doors open

Since staying at the Fort Simpson, N.W.T., warming centre, Gerald Beaulieu said he's been sober.

"I was drinking quite a bit before too, but now I'm happy, I don't drink anymore," he said. 

Despite only having a population of 1,200, Fort Simpson, N.W.T. has a large homeless population. As a result, the community opened a warming centre that is largely operated by community members and clients.

The shelter is at the centre of significant confusion over who bears responsibility to fund and operate it: the village or the territorial government.

In spite of that, the shelter — owned by community member Muaz Hassan and managed by another community member, Rosa Wright — keeps going.

"This centre, it came out of an experience of a need," Hassan said. 

The impact of colonization and residential schools runs deep in the community. For some, the intergenerational trauma fuels alcohol addiction and is exacerbated by a lack of affordable housing.

Housing NWT said the community typically has no more than 10 people at any given time experiencing homelessness, although the number can fluctuate.

There are several homes around the town, with no amenities or power, that house multiple occupants. 

Data from the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics found that in 2018, 11 per cent of families in Fort Simpson made less than $30,000 a year, nearly double the rate in Yellowknife. However, that number is likely higher because the homeless population includes people from other communities. Beaulieu, for example, said he is originally from Fort Smith.

Some people who are homeless are either passing by, and some are no longer welcome in their home community.

"People are on the street," Hassan said. "We have to be honest about that. That's how we opened the centre." 

'We just all help each other'

Wright has been running the operation since October 2021, though she makes it clear she is not an employee. 

"I pretty much do everything," she said. 

This includes finding staff, cooking, taking donations and getting desperately needed supplies.

"I do a lot of stuff out of my own pocket because we don't have the funding and I just don't have the patience to wait for something that we need," she said. 

Two days before speaking with CBC News, Wright had worked for 36 hours straight. 

Wright said she doesn't exactly have a title. Mainly, she just helps out Hassan and finds helping others to be good for her, she said. 

"I have PTSD, and sometimes I need somebody to talk to," she said. 

"My staff need help. I need help. My clients need help. So we just all help each other."

Most of the staff tend to be clients who are able to hold down work and help out around the centre. 

The facility opens in the afternoon, clients are fed, and offered a bed and area to rest. Hassan said they try organizing employment opportunities. 

Wright said they used a managed alcohol program at one point when a positive COVID-19 case was reported in the centre. She found the program helped some clients. The centre has also been able to navigate throughout the pandemic without an outbreak.  

Wright said she has experience in on-the-land healing and hopes to operate a wellness camp when the weather allows. 

Government collaboration 'in the works'

The building used to be the Unity Store, but about a year and a half ago, Hassan moved the store across the street and turned the old building into the warming centre. 

Then the flooding hit, forcing the building to close for a number of months.  

Since the building had to be repaired, its future remains uncertain both operationally and physically, as flood waters are expected to threaten the island long-term.

Hassan said Housing NWT has provided support for the centre, which he appreciates, but they still need more help.

"Does it only serve the housing corporation or the housing department? No," he said, pointing out that the shelter provides health services and a place to house people who are recently released from jail.

"They don't have any place to stay and they stay at the centre here," he said. 

Since 2020, the village has been processing the territorial funding on the centre's behalf. It stopped doing so on March 31.

In a previous interview with CBC News, Fort Simpson Mayor Sean Whelly said the responsibility is outside of the village's mandate. 

"They know there is a need for it and they would like to see another organization step in and do it," he said. 

Hassan said he respects the decision although he isn't sure it is the right one. But he said homelessness is a territorial issue, not local.  

Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson said in an interview with CBC News last week that on the issue of the warming centre, he has reached out to NWT Housing with potential solutions. 

Mercy Addo, the N.W.T. government's regional manager for mental health and addictions services in the Dehcho region, said collaboration with the centre is "in the works."

As for Beaulieu, he said he appreciates the centre because it keeps him away from alcohol and gives him an opportunity to help himself. 

"The staff are nice to be around, because they help you out too lots. They got a lot of respect and we got a lot of respect," he said.

"So everything is okay."