Watson Lake, Yukon, homeless need shelter, says advocate

The president of the Saint Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen  in Watson Lake says the community needs an emergency shelter.

Fred Statham says bitter cold in recent days has highlighted the need for a shelter, but he says there should be one in operation year round.

Statham says there are about 20 people in the community who are homeless.

""Yeah, basically just wandering the town, trying to get a place to stay warm," he says.

Statham says during the day, they often seek shelter and stay warm in the lobby of the local recreation centre. At night they find somebody's couch to sleep on or a warm hallway in an apartment building.

He says he asked the government to help out with funding about two years ago, but was told he should be lining up supporters in the community before making a proposal.

Statham says he's working on that and also on coming up with a concrete plan.

The Saint Vincent de Paul operates a soup kitchen on Fridays where hot meals and food hampers are provided to local people. 

Statham says he'd like to expand that to include Mondays as well.