Lethbridge Shelter adjusting to cold weather and ongoing pandemic

With an Extreme Cold Warning in effect for Alberta this week, Alpha House’s Executive Director Kathy Christiansen said the number of clients utilizing the services at the shelter is a little bit higher than what they would normally hold.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic creates an additional challenge on top of that.

“Ideally, we would have somewhere between 40 and 45 [clients] but, we’ve also got some overflow space, utilizing the [attached Lethbridge Soup Kitchen] at night, so we can put 15 people in there,” she told LNN.

“Our numbers have been above what we would like them to be given the pandemic, but I think our priority right now is not turning people away and we’ll continue to work with our partners in the city and the province to address the shelter needs as we continue to move through this.”

Christiansen added that to boost capacity, the Blackfoot Family Lodge Society has opened their facilities in partnership with the Lethbridge Shelter.

She said there is some positives to take away from this cold snap, though, mainly that “people are making the decision to come in,” ensuring their safety from the below-zero temperatures.

“It also gives us an opportunity to get to know folks, work with them and you know, look at some of the other resources that would be available to them, such as getting folks to detox, talking to them about their housing options and considering treatment around addiction and substance use, too,” said Christiansen.

“There’s other benefits to coming into the shelter other than getting away from the cold, in terms of it’s an opportunity to get linked to some resources and so, we have certainly been in particular focused on looking at some of the individuals that are higher users at the shelter and focusing on housing for them.”

COVID-19

Christiansen said lately, their client numbers have been between 40 to 80 people.

Staff and volunteers at the facility wear all necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks and safety glasses, as an adjustment to COVID-19.

Christiansen explained that all clients are screened for symptoms before coming into the shelter. If someone does display symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they’re placed in an isolation room and tested for the novel coronavirus.

“We also do asymptomatic testing,” she said.

“In partnership with Alberta Health Services every Tuesday, we do asymptomatic testing at the shelter.”

Christiansen encourages all clients and staff to get tested.

“What we’re finding is that not everybody who tends to have a positive test result is symptomatic and so, we’ve got regular screening and we anticipate that that will continue for a while.”

NEW VOLUNTEERS

Christiansen told LNN that normally, the shelter would happily accept new volunteers. However, due to the pandemic, no new volunteers are being accepted for the time being.

Anyone who wants to help out still can, though, with a donation of a coat, hats, gloves and other warm clothing.

The shelter also accepts food items like granola bars, yogurt, soups and hot chocolate. Christiansen even suggested that Tim Hortons gift cards can be donated, giving clients who are outside a chance to grab a hot beverage to warm up.

More on the Lethbridge Stabilization Centre and Shelter can be found here.

by Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Shelter adjusting to cold weather and ongoing pandemic

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