Progress on new Hope Mission Shelter in Wetaskiwin
“I think a lot of people in the community just want it to vanish and go away and I understand that, but it’s not going to.”
Paige Mueller,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Construction continues on the new Hope Mission emergency shelter in Wetaskiwin.
According to Jason Pyle, community engagement for Hope Mission, the organization is still hopeful that phase one of the project will be completed by August 2025.
“So far, they have the foundation laid, and they also have the frame, and they were putting some of the roof on the other day,” says Pyle. “I think they will focus next on getting the outside of the building done so that way they can start doing the interior. We are hoping the outside shell will be up so that the inside is protected by the time the winter gets here and then we can start building all the stuff inside the building.”
The new emergency shelter will replace the current temporary shelter that exists in Wetaskiwin and offer more overnight beds to meet a growing need for shelter and support in the community. While the current shelter is capped at 42 overnight clients, they are hoping the new shelter will hold at least 50. This is, of course, dependant on fire codes once the building is completed.
Phase one of the shelter project will include the emergency shelter itself and all of the services that go along with it. There will be offices for counselling, a dining hall and kitchen, as well as storage rooms and other basic amenities.
Phase two of the project was recently denied funding through a grant application but it is still something Hope Mission will be pursuing.
“I don’t think it’s something that we will want to abandon because it’s actually a pretty important step to what we’re doing,” explains Pyle. “If you want to try and transition someone out of that life, you need some steps up. If someone wants to go for treatment, for example, we’d be able to move them out of the main shelter and move them into a bachelor suite and they are getting ready to transition into going for treatment and I think that would be helpful to a lot of the people that we are serving.”
This phase would include suites and apartments added to the building in an effort to promote transitional housing for community members. Pyle also notes that while many of the people they serve are dealing with severe mental health or addiction issues, it is not always the case. Sometimes, folks are just down on their luck and need a place to sleep.
He says the suites would be a great support for people who didn’t need to be housed with the general population overnight but are looking for a different kind of support from the shelter.
“We have to offer avenues to get people options if they want to change and move away from the lifestyle they are living in at this time,” says Pyle.
He also notes that Hope Mission does a fair amount of preventative programming in Wetaskiwin as a way to support the community in other ways. They provide breakfast and lunch to around 5,000 school kids every month, as well as 50 frozen meals to families in need. They run after school programs in the afternoon and have Horses of Hope twice a year as well.
Community support for Hope Mission and for the emergency shelter project has been mixed. While some community members support the mission and their approach in the community, other vehemently oppose them.
“Some people are for what we are doing. Quite a few people understand that the issue won’t just disappear,” says Pyle. “I think a lot of people in the community just want it to vanish and go away and I understand that, but it’s not going to.”
At the end of the day, Pyle believes a shelter is needed in Wetaskiwin and construction of the building will go ahead as planned to hopefully open next summer.
Paige Mueller,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Ponoka News
