Cold snap means brisk business for local shelters

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Some homeless shelters in HRM are having to turn people away in this cold weather as more people take advantage of their services this season.

Most shelters in HRM have been over capacity over the past couple of weeks, including the Out of the Cold shelter on Barrington Street.

Coordinator Capp Larsen tells News 95.7 the shelter has been much busier this season compared to last.

“We definitely have seen an increase in the number of people using our shelter this year than in the previous two seasons,” she said. “We’ve seen that trend happen in many other shelters in HRM as well. It’s not unique to the Out of the Cold shelter. We’re seeing quite an increase in homelessness across the board.”

She says that’s meant turning some people away.

“Two nights ago we saw that our shelter, The Out of the Cold Shelter, was at capacity and there were five people who came to our door above capacity who we weren’t able to accomodate and in addition to that there were two people who came in the morning to get something to eat who had spent the night out on the street,” she said. “We are seeing that there are people who are unable to access shelters even though it has been so cold.”

There are 15 beds at the Out of the Cold shelter and Larson says they’ve been taking in a few extra people because of the recent frigid temperatures.

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