No room at the Inn

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

Christmas is around the corner and thoughts turn to those who don’t have much in this world.
At the Strathmore town council meeting on Dec. 2, Chamber of Commerce President Waldo Munoz approached council on helping with some worthwhile initiatives for the homeless in our community.
The Harvest Healing Centre, across Hwy 1 at 102 Canal Gardens, hosts a Drop-in Centre and soup kitchen on Friday nights
“I personally have seen some people sleeping outside by my shop. We just don’t want to see anyone sleeping outside in the winter,” said Munoz. “Let’s see if we can to do something about it before it happens … we are trying to be proactive on this.”
He said providing a safe haven keeps the homeless from seeking shelter in yards or businesses in the community. The centre also runs a bread program that distributes bread donated by area businesses to needy families. They currently have about 35 to 50 people dropping into the centre and operate three vans with six volunteers for the program.
Munoz said the program has had to meet criteria set out in the law, and an addition like another washroom facility would help the program move forward.
Munoz would like to see the program expand to include a Detox Centre, as currently residents in need must go to Calgary or Fort McLeod for treatment help. Their current budget from donated sources is $24,000. Munoz estimates the long-term goal will be to retain permanent qualified staff to address needs and will cost about $100,000.
Council said they would like to see if the program could coordinate with services in the Strathmore community that provide service for similar issues. They suggested there are supports in the community for the initial stages of development for non-profit agencies.
They asked that Munoz work with the town administration to coordinate this and outline in more detail the needs of the outreach work, and come back to council at a later date.
Community and business donations would be welcomed. For more information contact Munoz at waldo@waldosimagingltd.com.