Come in out of the cold

Social work professor Jeff Karabanow. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Dr. Jeff Karabanow believes in the power of people. The Dalhousie School of Social Work professor says the Out of the Cold emergency shelter, now gearing up for a second year of operation in downtown Halifax, is an example of that power in action. The night shelter is a story about the grassroots community providing solutions for the hard-to-house, he says, people who for a variety of reasons don’t fit the profile of typical emergency shelter clients. 

“I’m not sure it’s our role to be doing this, but housing is not taken seriously by the government,” says Dr. Karabanow. “The homeless population is radically diverse and we need radically diverse solutions to the problems faced by this community.” 

Last year, Out of the Cold provided winter shelter and food for 64 different people during 460 stays over a two month period. Half of those accommodated were youth. 

All of this was accomplished with a volunteer staff on a shoe-string budget after the community quickly pulled together in response to a pressing need for “last resort” shelter space.   

Out of the Cold is for people who don’t fit within the existing shelter system—which runs at capacity or near capacity already—such as couples, or people who have been barred from other facilities, or those who experience anxiety in the regular shelter environment.  “We try to provide a safe sanctuary,” says Dr. Karabanow.

Out of the Cold is small (housing a maximum of 15 people), with a high ratio of staff to clients, who are referred to as “guests.” The shelter will be housed this year in St. Matthew’s United Church on Barrington Street, a warm and welcoming space featuring a reading room off the sleeping area for people not ready to go to bed. Shelter organizers plan on operating from 8 p.m. til 8 a.m.  They have applied for funding to provide hot, nutritious meals this year as opposed to the light breakfasts served last year. 

The direct involvement of the community in this undertaking is what stands out for Dr. Karabanow. 

“People are frustrated at the lack of government involvement in these places,” he says.  “People movements are a strong, flexible alternative. People can be mobilized quickly to provide a local, specific response” to community needs. 

With a management board comprising a range of service and faith-based agencies, nightly operations are handled by volunteers who keep in touch with experienced on-call shift supervisors. Shelter organizers would eventually like to see people who are homeless participating in the management of the shelter. While the Out of the Cold shelter is meeting an emergency need, “we should be moving to more sustainable solutions. We need to work at the structural level, advocating for sustainable housing,” says Dr. Karabanow.