Overnight mat program open in Cold Lake; city removes two more tent camps

The temporary winter shelter for those who are living rough in the Cold Lake area is now officially open.

An old drilling camp just off of 40th Avenue in Cold Lake South is the site of John Howard Society’s mat program and daytime outreach.

So far in the first few days, they’ve seen roughly 7-10 visitors for the nights.

Equipped with nighttime security, a kitchen, showers, laundry, and simple beds, the function is to keep vulnerable people out of the cold winter elements overnight.

Candice Sutterfield is on the JHS board and says they have a cap of 21 nights that a man or woman can stay.

There are separate wings in the camp for males and females.

With a provincial grant, John Howard has been able to hire a cook and cleaner as well.

The center is not open 24/7 however, closed from 2pm to 5pm.

Community members were welcomed to an opening barbeque back on Jan. 19 in which about 75 attended.

The City put up over $100,000 to get the drilling camp in order to discourage living rough on the streets or in the bush.

Mayor Craig Copeland said city staff removed two tent camps just last week. The City wants to see those who need the service to go to John Howard.

“We came in we had a couple of people living in shelters in the woods in a certain location in Cold Lake south. And staff addressed that. A mulcher came in and mulch down the bush,” said Copeland. 

“There’s still some areas where they frequent and like last summer, we had about 50 of them throughout Cold Lake staying in various locations. And we don’t want to encourage that at all.” 

The estimate from last summer was roughly 50 people were found living rough in the city area. They want those living rough to access John Howard.

“The idea is to try to give that person a helping hand.”