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Drayton residents struggling with homelessness will now have a warm place to sleep at night.
The Town of Drayton Valley and Humans Helping Humans (HHH) worked in tandem to bring shelter pods, which can sleep up to 28 people, to the community.
The pods are in shacks which have been retrofitted to meet the specifications required. There are two shacks with seven rooms in each. These rooms will hold two beds each and will be accessible by an electronic buzzer system.
Insight came from Edson
Those who wish to use them can simply request entrance by buzzing on the intercom. A volunteer on the other end will allow them in through their cell phone. Each morning anyone in the pods is asked to leave and a cleaning company comes in to get the room ready for the next night.
The idea for the shacks came after organizers heard of another community successfully introducing them. Edson has had their pods for over a year and offered tips to the Drayton Valley and Area Homelessness and Poverty Reduction Team.
Each of the shacks cost $80,000. The Town received funds from a federal grant offered through the Alberta Rural Development Network. Humans Helping Humans used a donation they’d received a while ago from the TD Bank.
Pods located on former public works site
While the two shacks are currently in place on 54 St., just east of the RCMP station, they are not quite ready for use. Hack Hamdon, the president of HHH, says they still have to install some doors, some steps, and set up the buzzers. The hope, he says, is to have them inhabitable by May.
“It will definitely be done before the snow flies next year,” he says.
Lola Strand, the Community Services Manager for the Town, says they have talked to many of the clients who will be making use of the pods. She says the feedback they’ve received so far is excitement to have a bit of privacy at night.
Though many people put in hours of work to make this plan a reality, both Strand and Hamdon say the bulk of the organization of the project was due to the work of Emily Hickman, the Homelessness and Poverty Reduction Coordinator.
Pods felt a temporary solution
Previously, the Town has relied on the Community Mat Program to provide an optional place to sleep during the winter. However, it doesn’t offer anyone a place to put their things for the night and it affords no privacy. With the pods, users can put their things in the pod with them during the night and not have to worry as much.
“It’s a much more private and dignified way to provide someone with emergency shelter,” says Strand.
Hamdon says the pods were necessary, but he feels they are only a temporary solution. “They are an excellent band-aid, they aren’t a perfect solution, but they will provide a warm, safe place for 28 individuals to sleep. That’s 28 individuals who won’t be freezing outside.”
He says HHH is working on coming up with a better solution for the community.
“The Housing First Initiative has an 80 percent success rate,” says Hamdon. “The best way to help those in our community is by providing them with a place to call home.”
While HHH is best known for providing low-income housing, Hamdon says they are currently looking to expand their portfolio and help in other ways. “You know, taking on some areas that are just not being addressed in the community.”
He says they were attempting to get some federal funding to build housing for a housing first initiative, but lack of support from the Town and the Province meant they were unable to secure any funding.
Discussions continue regarding responsibility
HHH and the Town are in negotiations to see who will be responsible for the shelter pods. Hamdon says he would like to see both HHH and the Town of Drayton Valley work together to ensure the pods are successful in the community. Hamdon says HHH hopes to divvy up some of the responsibilities with the Town to make sure everything is looked after.
Dee Ann Benard with the Alberta Rural Development Network says they receive quite a few applications for the grant each year. She says they have about $1,000,000 to give out to communities, but they often received $12,000,000 in requests.
She says they chose to help Drayton because of the initiative the Town and residents are putting into supporting the homeless community.
“We’ve worked a lot with Drayton Valley, you have become leaders in the whole homelessness world over the last couple of years. It’s nice to partner with a community that is really invested in helping everyone in the community,” says Benard.
