The town of Edson has brought in a new initiative to help the homeless. They call them ShelterPods.
The ShelterPods consist of five units. When someone is in need of a place to stay for the night, they can go to the ShelterPods. They can then call one of the ShelterPod volunteers over the intercom or with their cellphone, and the volunteer will let them in. Inside, they’ll find a room about the size of a small bedroom. It’s heated, and with a mat on the floor where they make themselves comfortable.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Christian Delisle is one of the volunteers behind the ShelterPods. Delisle really gives the credit to another of their committee members, Anne Auriet. “She had the idea that, ‘Hey, why don’t we have, like, pods that could be given out at night to the homeless?” said Delisle, and then Auriet started reaching out to various community members to make it happen. To the best of Delisle’s knowledge, something like this had never been attempted before in Alberta. They were able to procure funding from the town of Edson, federal grants, and various private donations.
Even though the ShelterPods had their grand opening on July 14, they’ve already been open for two months. In that time, they’ve been used a total of 70 times by 16 different people. It’s easy to think of homelessness as being a primarily urban problem, but Delisle says it’s all too common in rural areas as well. “As an RCMP officer, I’ve worked in many different places, and in every detachment I’ve worked, there were people that were homeless, and needed a place to sleep every night,” says Delisle. In a statement on his Facebook page, Edson mayor Kevin Zahara says he hopes this initiative can be used in other rural communities facing similar problems.
The Edson ShelterPods are located at 5237 – 1st Avenue in Edson. For more information, you can visit their Facebook page, facebook.com/shelterpods.edson.
