Report: 90% of clients at John Howard Society Cold Lake from local area

A total of 154 unique individuals were served in 2024 at Cold Lake John Howard Society, with a total of 30 nights that they were at full capacity. 

Candice Sutterfield and Leona Heisler presented statistics from the shelter from last year at the May 13 city council meeting, discussing their operations, while also talking about who they serve and where they come from.  

The majority of the clients are from the local area, with 35 per cent being from Cold Lake First Nations, 30 per cent from Bonnyville and the M.D., 25 per cent from Cold Lake, and just ten per cent from outside these communities. 

That may include Elizabeth Metis Settlement, Frog Lake Cree Nation, St. Paul, Saddle Lake, Big Island Lake, Onion Lake, Beaver Lake, Lac La Biche, Two Hills, Boyle, and Ministikwan. 

According to their figures, a total of 86 per cent of the clients are Indigenous.

“They do not bus people over here, and the group doesn’t go down and pick them up,” said Mayor Craig Copeland on The Morning After, responding to rumours that homeless are shipped to Cold Lake. 

“Unfortunately, right now, in today’s society — we need it. A lot of the people involved do have addictions and problems, and one of the things that we lack in our area is a detox, addiction, and a mental health treatment facility. We’ve been working with Scott [Cyr] the MLA to try to get the province to bring some money up here and build something.” 

‘Agencies would be overrun’

The main purpose of the shelter in the first place was to protect individuals from the harsh elements. 

Overall, however, the John Howard Society works with clients beyond the mat program, assisting in government paperwork like replacing IDs, banking, or working as a court support. 

A total of 164 clients received help of this sort, while nearly 6,700 outreach interactions occurred. 

Conversely, the number of drug overdose interventions and naloxone kids distributed was 82 in 2024.  

“What would Cold Lake look like without the John Howard Society? That would look pretty grim, if you ask me,” said Candice Sutterfield, JHS board chair, to city council. 

“I think we would have more warming fires as well. Our crime numbers would go up because they wouldn’t have Gina meeting them at the courthouse and walking them through their charges or their misdemeanors.

“Agencies would just be overrun, and that’s what we were seeing. That was the purpose of the shelter. They would be lined up outside Lakeland Centre for FASD, they’d be lined outside FCCS. The hospitals, RCMP, were just getting frustrated because they are not mental health workers. They’re non emergency nurses. They’re also not trained to even do applications. They don’t have the time for that income support.”

Key stats

Seventy-four per cent have reported to JHS that they’ve been chronically homeless, which means more than a six-month period, or have a repeated episode.

An even higher percentage at 87 per cent have co-occurring mental health and substance abuse concerns, and nearly half are at a high risk of overdose or have suicidal ideations.

The sense of hopelessness breaks down in another category. The self-reported stats say that 35 per cent of clients have been exploited, trafficked, or done survival sex work.

On a more positive note, 22 individuals they served were able to go into treatment. But the wait times for these facilities, as well as the timelines to detox, find a bed, and even transportation, can be difficult.

Experts estimate at least 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness in a given year when accounting for those sleeping rough or in hidden situations like couch–surfing.