The province has earmarked $350,000 for a 24-hour warming shelter. The new warming shelter was supposed to open soon but the selected location was met with pushback from business owners and ultimately turned down by the city's planning commission on Nov. 1.
For nearly a year, as the WFPS's sole community liaison dedicated to encampments, Steven Antle still regularly meets people who are newly experiencing homelessness.
People who don't have a place to stay in Brandon are stocking up on tarps, tents and blankets or desperately searching for a couch in the hopes of having somewhere warm to spend the night if the city's only overnight shelter is full.
Brandon's Ask Auntie Blue Door Project, a daytime shelter that initially opened a year ago as a warm place for people to hang out during the day, is now adapting to meet the growing needs of a community in what advocates say is a housing crisis.