Brandon reopens overnight warming shelter as city waits for homelessness strategy rollout

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 22 minutes ago

As freezing temperatures return, Brandon has reopened a impermanent overnight drop-in to assistance radical flight the acold — but those who enactment with stateless radical successful Manitoba's second-biggest metropolis accidental short-term fixes aren’t enough, and much imperishable supportive lodging is needed.

The non-profit societal services bureau Life’s Journey volition run the drop-in warming structure for the archetypal clip this year. It was initially created successful 2022 to easiness pressures connected the city’s lone overnight shelter, which had reached capacity.

This year's opening comes arsenic homelessness rises and the estimated fig of reported encampments has doubled compared to past twelvemonth successful the city, according to Shannon Saltarelli, the City of Brandon's assemblage lodging and wellness co-ordinator.

She and different advocates accidental semipermanent lodging and sustainable provincial concern are urgently needed.

"We've seen a batch of radical participate backmost into homelessness who were antecedently housed, which is precise concerning," Saltarelli said.

Shannon Saltarelli, Brandon's assemblage lodging and wellness co-ordinator, says the metropolis needs much supportive, transitional and affordable housing. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

Providing structure abstraction to support radical harmless is important, "but that's not the solution to homelessness," she said.

"Most importantly, we request to … get them into harmless and due housing."

In January, the state launched its "Your Way Home" program to extremity chronic homelessness, which focuses connected moving radical from encampments into imperishable housing. However, that program hasn’t yet been implemented successful Brandon.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the metropolis is collaborating with assemblage groups and different levels of authorities to code lodging concerns.

"The state does privation lodging of immoderate kind. They're little inclined to conscionable adhd much overnight beds," Fawcett said.

While lodging isn’t a municipal responsibility, the metropolis is moving to find solutions, helium said.

"A batch of things person to autumn into place. But we're astatine the array with [the province]," helium said.

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told CBC the state is moving to grow housing, but her bureau confirmed the NDP government's homelessness strategy has not expanded extracurricular Winnipeg, and there’s nary timeline for it to travel to Brandon.

The ministry added determination is ongoing enactment for lodging successful Brandon, including $500,000 for the Spruce Woods Housing Co-op and $100,000 to the Western Manitoba Women’s Centre to assistance Indigenous women experiencing homelessness.

That backing is each abstracted from the Your Way Home strategy, which the state antecedently said had provided lodging to 100 radical from encampments successful Winnipeg arsenic of past month.

City needs exigency plan: Samaritan House

The NDP authorities has faced disapproval implicit its advancement connected reducing homelessness successful Manitoba.

A caller study from End Homelessness Winnipeg, a non-profit lodging advocacy group, said it counted a grounds 2,469 radical experiencing homelessness successful its thoroughfare census past November. 

That information is gathered done a point-in-time count, meant to supply a snapshot of homelessness implicit a abbreviated play of time.

A point-in-time homelessness number successful Brandon, which took spot implicit 24 hours past October, identified 229 radical without homes — up by 100 radical compared to 2021.

So acold this year, astir 766 individuals successful Brandon person experienced homelessness astatine immoderate point, says Rebecca Anhalt, a elder information expert with Brandon's Homeless Individuals and Families Information System — an ongoing database that tracks homelessness successful the city.

Rebecca Anhalt is Brandon’s Homeless Individuals and Families Information System elder information analyst. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

The fig of radical considered chronically stateless has climbed from 126 successful 2023 to 216 this year, she said, but she cautions information is little reliable this year, due to the fact that "we really person less resources for individuals to access."

That means immoderate radical experiencing homelessness whitethorn not person been counted, said Anhalt.

Since spring, Brandon has had nary dedicated daytime drop-in spaces, limiting information postulation and leaving unhoused radical with obscurity to spell during the day.

"We’re seeing a batch of returns to homelessness," Anhalt said. "That's telling maine that there's gaps successful supports and resources."

Heather Symbalisty, enforcement manager of Samaritan House Ministries, says the metropolis needs an exigency program for erstwhile the structure reaches capacity. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

The overnight drop-in helps easiness unit connected Brandon's Safe and Warm shelter, says Heather Symbalisty, the enforcement manager of Samaritan House Ministries, which runs the shelter.

It had to crook much than 30 radical distant past January, erstwhile the structure reached its 41-person capacity. She expects to spot akin numbers again this winter. 

"We arsenic a assemblage don't person an exigency program for erstwhile we deed capacity," she said. "We tin nonstop individuals to the drop-in centre, but that isn't a spot wherever they tin really sleep."

The Life’s Journey overnight drop-in, which is unfastened regular from 7:45 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., has country for up to 25 people. It's staffed by 2 workers and a information guard.

Lorraine Ratcliffe, the Westman and Central Manitoba manager for Life's Journey, said the drop-in aims to supply a welcoming abstraction portion connecting visitors with different supports successful the city.

Life's Journey Westman and Central Manitoba manager Lorraine Ratcliffe says the drop-in warming abstraction has already seen precocious usage successful its archetypal week this year. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)

The drop-in, which opened Oct. 29, saw precocious request successful its archetypal week, with 39 radical utilizing the abstraction connected opening time and much than 60 implicit the weekend, Ratcliffe said. The anticipation is to support the drop-in unfastened until April, utilizing $350,000 successful provincial funding.

Homeless radical successful the metropolis "need a spot that they tin spell … [and] consciousness connected to," she said.

"And we tin hopefully … link them to resources extracurricular of Life's Journey."