Charlottetown food bank sees spike in requests for tents

As weather begins to get colder, staff at the Upper Room Hospitality Ministry in Charlottetown have seen a spike in requests for tents. 

The Upper Room operates both a food bank and soup kitchen in Charlottetown, and executive director Mike MacDonald said it's not uncommon for clients to ask for things beyond food, such as tents and sleeping bags.

"Whether they're here at the food bank or down at our soup kitchen, they're constantly looking for ways just to get by. And unfortunately shelter and housing is a major issue for many of them," MacDonald said.

While the Upper Room typically gets such requests a few dozen times throughout the summer, MacDonald said this week, it got about half a dozen requests in just one day. 

'Temperatures changed overnight'

If people are in need of shelter, staff at the Upper Room will direct them to local services. But MacDonald said for any number of reasons, people may not always want to stay at a shelter. 

MacDonald said he believes the increase in requests for tents this week is tied to the colder weather. 

"Temperatures changed overnight.… It's wet, it's damp, it was cooler in the overnight," said MacDonald. 

"Unfortunately there are people that are sleeping outside and that are sleeping in cars, and you know they're looking for any shelter possible." 

The Upper Room has put out a call on social media, asking anyone who may have tents they aren't using to contact the soup kitchen.

'Numbers through the roof'

Staff at Blooming House, a women's shelter in Charlottetown, and Bedford MacDonald House, which serves men, said both have been filled to capacity most nights throughout the summer.

"The numbers have gone through the roof," said Mike Redmond, residential manager at Bedford MacDonald House. 

Redmond said the shelter does occasionally have to turn people away, and he is also aware of a number of people living in tents and cars in Charlottetown. 

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