Red Lake emergency shelter faces closure

Red Lake's only emergency shelter could close its doors by the fall if a new source of funding isn't found.

The board of the Red Lake Area Emergency Shelter announced last week that the shelter will cease operations indefinitely as of Sept. 30 due to lack of funds.

But executive director and operations manager Janalee Jodouin is hopeful another option will be found.

"You couldn't work harder or do more fundraising than we've been doing in the last couple years, so we need somebody else to meet us in the middle," Jodouin said. "Somebody else has to step up, otherwise we're not going to have a shelter, and we're going to see people freeze on the streets."

Jodouin said the risk of closure has long been looming over the shelter.

"We've been doing a lot of work restructuring the board, the staff, to get to a place where we can provide the service appropriately," she said. "The core funding, which comes from Kenora District Services Board, is not cutting it."

"It now is at the point where we may be able to make it to the end of September. We're hoping that we can struggle along."

Funding is month-to-month

The shelter has done a great deal of fundraising over the past two years, but Jodouin said it can't keep operating "month-to-month."

Costs include staff, $6,000 a year in insurance, $500 a month in heating, and an annual audit that costs $6,000.

"Right off the bat, we're starting with a deficit of a couple thousand a month, before we even get out of the gate," Jodouin said. "We're at a deficit every month of $14,000."

Jodouin said there are eight people who are truly homeless and have nowhere else to go, and stay at the shelter regularly. She said those who stay for extended periods pay a small rent fee to offset costs.

"Overall, we're at an average of 10 to 15 people per night, throughout the year," Jodouin said. "To me, one person's enough. It doesn't seem like a lot of people, but we're a small community. Ten people out of 4,500, that's quite a few."

Staff are currently working on an exit plan, which is designed to keep clients off the streets and find them places to go if a shutdown does take place.

But Jodouin is keeping hope alive, and has meet with the town of Red Lake, as well as MP Bob Nault. Jodouin also plans to meet with the province.

"I'm trying really hard to have faith that we aren't going to close, and that I'm not going to have to tell people that they have to leave their home or their safe place," she said. "But time will tell."