Need remains high for warm overnight shelters in Sask.

The need for a warm place to stay is high in many communities across the province.

"Every night we're usually at capacity," said Donna Brooks, CEO of the YWCA in Prince Albert, which manages the Stepping Stones Shelter.

The shelter has 20 regular beds and an overflow of another 10 beds in the event of a cold weather trigger. 

"The need is definitely there for at least as many beds," Brooks said.

Sheilagh Martin, program lead for cold weather strategy at the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, said emergency shelters around Saskatoon are full every night.

"The Salvation Army have opened up the chapel in their facility where people can go," Martin said. 

"People are warming up in the chapel, they can stay all night too and they're packed."

The Saskatoon Tribal Council Wellness Centre, a 50-bed emergency shelter, opened less than a week ago in the city's downtown and it is full.

Michael Parker, executive director of the Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre, said they get 60-70 people coming through the doors every day.

While the friendship centre is only open in the daytime, it gives people a place to warm up and something hot to eat and drink.

"We often used to do toast a lot, but now we're [offering] porridge and coffee," Parker said, adding they also try to find a place to stay for anyone in need of a bed.

A recent count in Regina revealed there are almost 500 people who are homeless.

About 488 people were identified as being homeless on Sept. 22, in the city's third Point-in-Time Count. That compares with 286 in 2018 and 232 in 2015. 

Martin said in Saskatoon the age demographic seeking shelter the most is between 25 and 35 years old followed by the 35-45 age bracket.

Martin said when she goes out at night to help check on those on the street, it is imperative to get them into shelter in this weather.

"It's an emergency need. It's not, 'Well, I'm going to fix everything for you tonight in this van and and we're going to get you going.' It's we've got to get you to a warm shelter. That's it, plain and simple."

As temperatures have been warming up, the emergency weather alert has been deactivated in Saskatoon.

It is activated when temperatures or windchill get to -30 C and organizations work together to make sure homeless people get the resources they need. 

Martin said she'd rather have the alert be on all winter.

"This shouldn't be a big bang where it's like, 'Oh, here, the cold weather's on, OK, now we can get shelter, right?' This should be common sense and [the alert] should be all the time."

Brooks said while they have a core group of people coming night after night to the shelter, there is always someone new coming through the door.

"We are a service centre to all of northern Saskatchewan," Brooks said. "So we will see different people that maybe get stranded here or trapped here. Or have left a situation in the community they're in that was bad.

"They left, came to Prince Albert, realized you can't find housing in Prince Albert because of the prices and so forth."

Brooks said getting more beds will help those in need tonight, but it is a Band-Aid solution to a much bigger problem.

"Just throwing shelter beds at it doesn't solve it," Brooks said. "The more shelter beds you put in, the more they will fill. It's those long-term solutions we have to look at."

Brooks said that includes more affordable housing and increasing the base income for people on assistance to be able to afford rent.

"And the supports in the community need to be supports around trauma, the effects of residential school, reconciliation, addictions, mental health.

"It's a very complex issue, and just building shelter beds doesn't doesn't solve the issue, that just keeps people safe overnight."