As spring approaches in west-central Alberta, Rocky Mountain House’s cold weather warming shelter is preparing to wind down for the summer following its first season of nightly operation — and community members and organizers alike are calling it a success.
Monday, April 21 will be the final night for overnight stays at the shelter, which has operated every night through the winter months out of the Lord’s Food Bank building on 52 Street.
Kandis Stradecki, chairperson for the Clearwater Regional Housing Foundation, says the shelter’s first full season has proven just how vital the service is.
“We think that the first year went quite successful. It demonstrated the need within our community. We had people present every night,” she says.
A consistent group of around 11 individuals accessed the shelter nightly, with additional users coming and going throughout the season. The shelter provided mats for sleeping and light evening meals, which, Stradecki said, were often the only food some clients received in a day.
“For a number of people that use this program, the light meals that we provide are really kind of the only meal that they might have — in a day or sometimes in a few days,” she said. “So just trying to have more available for that is something we’re hoping to improve on.”
During the coldest periods of the winter, hours were expanded to 12 hours a day — from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — to protect shelter users from dangerous temperatures. Stradecki said the longer hours made a big difference and are something they hope to offer more consistently next season.
“A significant piece of feedback for us, from all members of the community including those that were using the program, is that it would be helpful to have the hours expanded slightly, especially when it’s bitterly cold outside,” she said. “Really, the feedback was that if we could do that more consistently, it would make a huge impact.”
The executive director for the Lord’s Food Bank says it could accommodate nearly 50 people seeking shelter from the cold (The Lord’s Food Bank/David Mark Carter)
Stradecki added, the foundation is reviewing several other lessons from this inaugural season, including staffing levels and volunteer coordination.
“There’s a little bit of discrepancy in terms of how many staff we need to have versus how many volunteers, and just ensuring that we have more staff on site,” she said. “Again, that all centers around funding and licensing requirements.”
Funding for the shelter came from multiple sources, including the Town of Rocky Mountain House, which reimbursed nights where temperatures dropped below -20°C, and Clearwater County, which provided a one-time $17,000 contribution. The shelter also received provincial support this season, but future funding from the province remains uncertain.
“We have partial funding in place for next winter,” Stradecki explained. “So what we have is a commitment from the town — they’ll provide funding as a temperature trigger. Every night that it is -20 or colder, they will reimburse us for those nights. And then we have funding from the county… that will carry us through the rest of the year.”
“But where we’re falling short is the money that we had received from the province,” she continued. “And so that requires another proposal and extension.”
While plans are in place to reopen the shelter in October, long-term, the organization is exploring the possibility of transitioning to a year-round facility that would include both overnight and daytime programming.
“We would be looking at having a facility that would allow for those who are without other sorts of resources in their life to be able to be there every night and have a safe space — and be able to access supports,” says Stradecki, adding that the matt program would be attached to that for more casual patrons who come and go from the program.
Stradecki acknowledged the future vision would require significant community and government support, but says the foundation is committed to working toward it.
In the meantime, they are pausing operations over the warmer months and focusing on reviewing the season, preparing grant applications, and refining the program for next winter.
To mark the end of the season, the foundation is hosting an Easter dinner on Monday evening — the final night the shelter will be open.
The Easter dinner begins at 5 p.m. Monday and is open to shelter users, staff, volunteers and the broader community.
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