Inuvik warming centre closes for summer; NWTHC to work with shelter staff

The Inuvik emergency warming centre has closed for the summer months, the N.W.T. Housing Corporation (NWTHC) confirmed, marking a return to service levels pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

The move comes as Housing Corporation staff plan to work with the centre over the months of the closure, with the intent to "continue to strengthen their operations," according to an NWTHC spokesperson, marking the latest turn in a troubled 12 months for the centre that saw most of its board quit in October.

The centre, which provides beds and services for intoxicated individuals, last closed for the summer in 2019. It remained open in 2020 in an alternate location, housed out of Inuvik's Aurora College campus, with the intent of using the extra space to help clients with COVID-19 related distancing guidelines.

However, after it moved back to its original Berger Street location in August, board members cited numerous issues since the onset of the pandemic, leading to a contentious meeting in October that saw the board temporarily replaced with a working group.

In November, Housing Minister Paulie Chinna committed to sending NWTHC staff to the centre to offer assistance to the board and employees, after Inuvik-Twin Lakes MLA Lesa Semmler raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly.

In a statement from the Housing Corporation, a spokesperson said that the closure, ordered by the centre's board of directors, "is consistent with the timing of closures in previous years prior to the COVIDpandemic."

Closure opportunity for staff training, says NWTHC

During the closure, NWTHC staff will work with the warming centre, the statement reads, including developing learning plans, particularly for front-line staff.

The closure also "provides an opportunity for staff to undertake additional training in order to meet the needs of the clients they serve," according to the statement.

"The NWTHC fully supports the warming centre and is committed to working together in partnership to ensure that this important service continues to operate during the winter months," it concludes.

The closure leaves the Inuvik Homeless Shelter, a dry shelter, as the only operating shelter space for homeless individuals in the community over the summer.