Lineups grow in anticipation of new women-only shelter in downtown Calgary

Erin McPherson had a job and what seemed like an affordable rental lined up before she moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan. The job has worked out, but the rental was too good to be true.

“I put money down to hold it and I got out here and it turns out the place didn’t even exist,” said McPherson.

Now, for the first time in her life, McPherson is using an emergency shelter.

“It’s a lot better than living on the street.”All Posts

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And with cold weather coming, the announcement of an additional 40 shelter spaces in Calgary comes as welcome news. But is it enough?

Mustard Seed staff said Monday that the lineup outside its new facility on 11th Avenue SE started at 5 a.m., hours before the province even announced the additional spaces at a 9 a.m. press conference.

“It’s a good idea,” said Marie Derman, who’s currently staying at the Mustard Seed’s foothills shelter. “Us women don’t have a lot of shelters to go to.”

The province said it’s confident that the 1,800 emergency shelter spaces now open in Calgary will meet the city’s needs this winter.

“In Calgary last year, we were at about 80 per cent emergency shelter capacity through the year. There’s very few times when we broke that 80-per cent mark. It’s something that the department watches every day,” said Jason Nixon, Alberta’s minister of seniors, community and social services.

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But during the summer months, when demand is usually at its lowest, the Mustard Seed said its Foothills shelter saw record demand.

“For the first time this year we’ve been at capacity throughout the entire summer. Typically we would have 250 to 275 average. In the summer we were over 370 and we were turning away anywhere between 10 and 30 people a night,” said Mustard Seed CEO, Stephen Wile.

Calgary police have also responded to more than 4000 calls about encampments this year.

“The system that we have right now doesn’t work as effectively as it could and should,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “And so another component of the housing strategy is making sure that we have spaces for people to go if they have pets, that they have spaces to go if they’re a couple.”

The new downtown shelter takes over Inn from the Cold’s former facility, offering beds off the floor and more privacy for those with nowhere else to call home.