Inn from the Cold emergency shelter holds holiday open house

Inn from the Cold emergency shelters held a holiday open house to discuss homelessness with the public.

“We invite friends, supporters, community,” said Inn from the Cold CEO Heather Morley. “Come in and see a shelter, hear from the staff, what they are seeing every day, what they're facing.”

The emergency shelter provides housing and critical supports for families in need.

“Basically all the time we’re at capacity,” said Morley.

Due to the housing crisis impacting Calgary it’s demand has risen dramatically. Prior to the pandemic it was helping 500 families a year, now it’s helping 1400.

“The impacts of the housing crisis, the affordability issues, demand for our emergency shelter and our services has been higher than ever before,” said Morley.

That has also resulted in people staying longer. Prior to pandemic families would stay an average of 35 days, now it’s nearly 90.

Morley says many of its clients are just "down on their luck."

“(They) come from high paying jobs, but often all it takes is a sudden and unexpected increase in rent, it might be that your house at work have been cut,” said Morley. “Sometimes it’s a loss of employment, often we see it’s a health issue.”

Inn from the Cold supports up 20 families on any given night.