Yellowknife Street Outreach is facing challenges due to the extreme cold weather and a vehicle that’s seemingly on its last legs.
And it looks like it won’t be getting better anytime soon.
“We can’t open the windows now, because if we open them, they automatically freeze we can’t close them,” said Kim Robinson, the manager of the program. “We can’t lock the doors. Normally, we’d be able to keep the door locked and deal with our clients and keep the van running, but we can’t do that, it doesn’t work for some reason. So we have to keep the doors unlocked, which is not safe for clients or for staff.”
She said that the program has two vehicles — the other one has been in the shop for six months waiting for a part.
Robinson added that the vehicle has little to no heat and the staff have to open the doors constantly to talk to clients, which makes it feel like being outside.
Robinson said they’ve reached out to the city for funding for a newer vehicle, one that can also help with disabled clients as a lot of them have mobility issues. However, their request was turned down in last year October.
The current budget for the program through the city is $360,000 with an additional $10,000 in donations, but that’s up in the air when it comes to the city’s draft budget for 2024. As it stands, there is no funding for the coming year as the city decided to take it out.
The draft budget document did include $100,000 for a consultant to come in and look over the program, as well as put together a funding proposal to both the GNWT and federal government.
A GoFundMe page was set up for the program by Melinda Frost-Greene hoping to raise $20,000 for a new vehicle.
Robinson said Frost-Greene messaged her late on evening and said that she wanted to do something for the community.
The GoFundMe page titled Street Outreach Yellowknife Needs Our Help, has raised $2,870 as of Thursday afternoon.
“You’ve seen them helping others; these people privide an incredibly valuable service for our community, but here’s the thing: they are working with a vehicle that is not well-functioning,” stated the post. “It’s on its last legs, as you may have seen in their posts, and because of that, they’ve had to stop those much needed services at times of peak need.”
The post stated that all funds that raised will go directly to the Yellowknife Street Outreach via the Yellowknife Women’s Society, which runs the program. If sufficient funds aren’t raised for a new or newer vehicle, Street Outreach would still receive all funds which would be allotted to their essential operations as needed.
“As mentioned on social media, we have been using an older van because the newer one is waiting for a part in the shop. As a non-profit that relies on funding from other sources, we cannot extend the hours, and to add to that, we are currently facing staffing issues,” said Renee Sanderson, executive director with Yellowknife Women’s Society.
She refused to comment on the city’s decision to scrap funding for the program from the 2024 budget.