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\ WWW-Maritza 3013 - 3 m ' "F . . .. M "has!" I. he” ltd CID St. W. (Bald. Whom) Ir A 519-033â€"0550 501 WM 0» an Page ‘ Back in the COld i Out of the Cold organizers discouraged by double digit increase in need lithium Many of the locations served How can the region solve its .. .. ,. h Chmm‘de W more than 200 meals per night on a growing homelessness crisis? Gael . ‘ ”a regular basis and the number of Gilbert, executive director of Sup~ ‘. . s anotha winter season wraps people who spent the night ranged portive Housing of Waterloo. " ' ‘ ~ 4 A319 organizers of the region’s from 70 to 85. believes more aflordable and sup- . ewe {5' t of the Cold program say With Out of the Cold winding portive housingisone ambition. _ -. .. "”‘ “7 tremblnmeleasarelosinghope down this month, Savage said 'I really believe that the only ’ .3 ~2- 3? ‘ - dieywfllevergaofithestreets someofthehomelessareforced to waywe’regoingtobeabletotarfle ’ ' “it appears that a lot of people go back to sleeping under bridges this problem is throng) more sup- have given up,” said Michael Savâ€" or in public parks and are invisible portive housing and more housing age, the former co-ordinator at to the public. geared to lowinoome,'Gilbertsaid. Waterioo's First United Church. The "There's a whole portion of '1 don't think that sleeping on . siteisnowrunbyhiswife, Cathie. the floor ofthechurchâ€"asamaz- “The lack of hope is very ap arâ€" ,, in as the faith common] has em.” p It appears that a [at begn in making sure people:y have Out of the Cold rovides meals ' shelter â€" that’s not a permanent and a place to sleep gt nine church- 0f people have glue". solution." es throughout Kitchener and up The laCk thope ‘3 Yet ifthepast isany indicator, it ' Waterloo between November and " will be a struggle to bring more .. P , April. very apparent. housing units like SHOW to Water ' ‘T' 4. Savage said the number of peo- JAM Savage loo Region. it took about seven I ‘/' ' ' " ple making use of Out of the Cold former €0~0'dim“0’fi7r 0“! of years of fundraising and advocacy .' :f ,l I, services is up about 15 per cent 1’1? COHEN?!“ Uni'ed Church work to break ground on the fiveâ€" ‘,/’,’/‘l«’/ over last year, and Savage antici- storey building at 362 Erb St. W. in “N f 9 . U/‘ ’1 pates they will surpass 250.000 homelessness that people don't Waterloo. It contains 30 one-bed-- t," ;/ I i r meals served by the middle of next realize â€" its people that couch room apartments and provides ., I! ‘ I j! , winter. surf." said Savage. These are people around-the~clock support to ten- . ’5 j, . They‘ve provided a warm place who live with friends or family ants . as, to sleep for about half ‘many, members and move from couch to And the need is growing. SHOW ‘ ‘ ’ he said, but it’s touyi fiep an couch at night. is full and Gilbert said she receives accurate count since so y peo~ Savage estimates there are 10 about 10 inquiries every week ple come and go on a weekly basis. times as many couch-surfing about vacancies. Even more trou- . . . . Those are grim statistics for homeless as there are people living bling. 75 per cent of those calls are ""th andffhtl’s‘emfe. my gamma" gag 2°99 what was supposed to be a tempo- on the street, meaning the general from people over the age of 50, she mez'Chmrhggu: f th 52113.,” '5 “H" “I“, “tam is; rary solution started a decade ago. public doesn't grasp the magnitude said. n urc o e o ”09 am. ‘ It is run completely by volunteers ofthe problem. ' Either their pensions are not more units onto the 63 currently charitable groups like Out of the and thanks to the generosity of While the demographic of peo~ keeping pace with their cost of liv- at the site at 667 Pinerow Cres. Cold have let policy makers across donations and the nine faith comâ€" ple who use Out of the Cold is ing. they retired with less money inWaterloo. the province off the book from munities that open their doors mixed. Savage has noticed a large than they expected or an illness or Across the region there is a wait- being responsible for finding a every week. increase in the number of women other emergency has left them with ing list of about 1,500 applications solution tohomelessrms. ' Nearly 1,500 volunteers helped who either come for just a meal or little financial freedom. Gilbert for supportive housing alone. ”it would be cheaper to solve at some point this past winter. with spend the entire night. said. ‘Ifwe could put up two or three " the problem than to let it contin- organiaers able to rely on a couple While in the past about oneâ€"in- In a presentation to Waterloo more buildings to house another ue,’ said Savage. noting the burden hundred every week across the 10 guests were women, that num- city council last week. Shirley Rieck. 100 individuals. we would goa very .the homeless place on emergency nine locations bet jumped to one-in-five this yw. president of the Alfred Haenchen long way to getting rid of homeless services such as police and EMS. Formed as a two-month pilot Volunteers try to keep men and Co-operative Housing company, ness." said Gilbert. "It can be done . “Nobody will grab it by the project at First United in February women separated overnight, but told coundllors the wait for seniors and I'd like to see this community horns and do something about it. 1999, Out of the Cold quickly the number of women this year to get into affordable housingisjust be the first in Canada to meet the l'm interested in someone who has expanded throughout Kitchener grew so much the Church of the over 1.5 years That number jumps challenge and really deal with isome vision and I don't see any and Waterloo. The program pro- Holy Saviour in Waterloo was tem- to more than three years for non- homelessness.” 3 vision in any politician at present. Vida a place to sleep, a hot meal for porarily added as a 10th site for seniorsinWaterloo. Yet Savage said he has yet to see ‘ "(The homeless) need a hand . dinner and breakfast and lunch the women staying at the St. Louis Her company wants to build a any real political motivation to take up, not a hand out." nextday. if requested. Catholic Church site. $1.23~million expansion to add five serious action on the ime. He said egg . my 1"" .9 on 0 Eye Glasses ‘ ' l' v , Silllllla 6|?" , . . . Sunglasses sun ,2, 1..., .1 ~ 0 02012 29“ f # _ f 935 61»qu 57. ,. : 0 Soft Contact m . ~ t , 336' I] P ffl N2LM2N. - - Lenses » - . Hun H: 1' H u -‘-‘ Hum mm 1 Eye Exams on Premises. Call Us. 5,944.42”