Bed counts and hot meals increased drastically, describing continued homeless issues. CHAT News Stock Image

By Adrian St.Onge

‘Let’s do this together’: Despite minor housing boom, homelessness dominates concerns

Aug 20, 2024 | 4:39 PM

While Alberta is celebrating a minor housing boom, homelessness remains a substantial issue.

Extreme weather conditions are just as dangerous in the summer as they are in the winter, according to The Mustard Seed director of community and volunteer engagement David Conrad.

“Whether it’s extremely cold or extremely hot, they both have a huge impact and a huge influence on our health,” Conrad said.

“When we think of extreme weather in Canada, we often think of winter months but we’ve seen a lot of extremely hot days across the province this summer. That has just as negative of health consequences if you’re out in that without the proper protection as it does if it’s 30 below.”

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Conrad said that the issues surrounding homelessness have only gotten worse.

The Mustard Seed counts the amount of mats slept in as their metric for how busy they have been. Cameron said that the number of beds used climbed to over 6,700 this year alone, up from 4,000 last year.

He added that in Medicine Hat alone, the amount of warm meals provided have more than doubled, increasing from 13,400 to over 30,000 year to date.

“It’s not just The Mustard Seed doing it or the Salvation Army doing it, but [the community] needs to ask how can we come together and truly take care of those in our community who need the help right now,” Conrad said.

“Let’s talk. Let’s do this together and really make that change in our community.”

Conrad said that empathizing with the homeless community, volunteering or providing a small necessity like water, sunscreen or hats are an effective and inexpensive way to help.