As the temperature continues to plummet, emergency shelters in Windsor are bustling, at or near capacity and stretching resources to the max.
Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.
The forecaster warns of temperatures reaching lows near -20 C with wind chill values near -30 C by Thursday night. Temperatures and wind chill values will be slightly lower Friday night. The extreme cold will continue until Saturday morning.
Officials in Windsor say men, but particularly women are most vulnerable at the moment.
The Downtown Mission can accommodate 103 people each night.
Executive Director Ron Dunn tells CTV Windsor they only had 70 people Wednesday night “which was a surprise.” But Dunn says they are seeing more women than they have in the past.
“We built the shelter to accommodate 12 women, and we've had some months where we've had 28- women a night and that is taxing the system,” says Dunn. “We are hitting epidemic proportions.”
Tia Kong is among the homeless in Windsor who is thankful to find an escape from the bitter cold.
Kong spends every other day at Street Help since family circumstances pushed her onto the street when she says she was nearly finished her engineering degree.
“I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have this place to come for food, warmth and clothing,” Kong who admits to CTV News that she slept outside on New Year’s when the temperature hovered around -17 C.
Christine Wilson-Furlonger at Street Help says they normally see about 200 people a day, but since the cold snap, that number has jumped to 300 since the shelter is now open 24 hours a day.
“We’re seeing more people staying longer periods of time,” says Wilson-Furlonger, who adds they are working on new partnerships that would allow them to accommodate more women at night.
Officials at the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women on Bridge Ave. say they see about ten people on average each night.
The numbers are also higher at the Salvation Army shelter in Windsor.
“We are a 28 bed shelter,” says assistant Executive Director, Major Paul Rideout. “35 to 40 beds are in use, that is a 60 per cent increase for us.”
“We are not turning anyone away,” adds Rideout. “No one should be on the streets any time of year, but especially now when their life is in danger.”
Kong says emergency shelters have offered hope to other people, like herself, who are homeless.
“It’s a saving grace to be indoors to have a place to go” says Kong.
