A grassroots initiative to explore creating a men's shelter in Hay River has come up with its tentative next steps following a meeting on May 6.
That will involve gathering information, especially from the men who could benefit from such a shelter.
"I believe what the next step is going to be is we're going to plan to have a barbecue or some kind of an event and try to invite some of the people who may be the target audience of a service like what we anticipate," said Jane Groenewegen, who launched the initiative. "We don't know if they will feel comfortable to join us for something, but we thought, if we kept it really informal, people could just kind of chat amongst themselves."
That was one of the suggestions when about 10 people gathered on May 6 to discuss the idea of a men's shelter for the community.
Groenewegen noted there was another suggestion the group hire a summer student on a short-term contract to meet and survey some of the homeless people in town and ask them what their thoughts are on a men's shelter.
"The problem is we don't have a lot of data on the magnitude of the issue," she said. "So I think the next steps are to try to collect that information."
Groenewegen, a former MLA for Hay River South and a former minister of Health and Social Services, estimated there may be 15-20 men who would need a shelter on a regular basis.
Currently, they may be sleeping in vehicles, on the sofas of family or friends, or anywhere else they can find.
The initiative for a men's shelter is coming from a group of concerned citizens, not any particular organization.
As a result of the May 6 meeting, the availability of funding from the GNWT will also be explored.
Groenewegen noted the territorial government had tried to start a men's shelter years ago until NIMBY – not in my back yard – kicked in and the project went off the rails.
She called for a renewed initiative in a recent Facebook posting.
"Over the years, as a community, we have talked about gaps in our social safety net," it reads in part. "One of those has been a men's shelter. About 18 years ago the GNWT was investing in a property for a men's shelter, but opposition from people in the neighbourhood caused them to abandon the plans. It must be frustrating for people in the helping professions when they have no resources at their disposal to help people when they need it."