With cold winter weather about to set in, the Red Deer-based Central Alberta Safe Harbour Society for Health and Housing is reminding people in need across the region that services and supports are available for the asking.Kath Hoffman, executive director of Safe Harbour, said the society is ready and willing to help people in need of emergency housing or help with addictions.ìWe are all here to help people get through, that's for sure,î Hoffman told the Gazette. ìWe are available 24 hours a day to provide support to people across the region. We are Central Alberta Safe Harbour so we have people coming in or calling from all over the district. We help people who come from all over.ìWe don't have facilities in the outlying communities ñ our programs are in Red Deer but they are available to help anyone in the whole district. We are more than ready to help Central Albertans with any front-line addiction services or homeless services they might need.îThe society was formed in 2007 through the amalgamation of a number of area support organizations. Today, it has a staff of more than 60, more than a dozen programs and a budget of more than $2 million in 2011-12.The society operates an overnight mats shelter program for people who are drunk or high on drugs, and a non-medical detox centre, both at 5246 53 Ave. It also operates an emergency shelter at 6002 54 Ave., and offers support geared specifically for Aboriginals in the region.Safe Harbour runs a 24-hour-a-day help line (1-403-347-0181) where people can find information about the society's emergency housing and addictions services.ìIf you are stressed out it's good to hear a live voice on the phone,î Hoffman said. As well as providing emergency housing and addiction programs, both of which are open to any adult requesting service, the society also acts as a first-stop for people seeking programs through other agencies, she said.ìIf we are not the place they are looking for, we can help them find the place they are looking for,î she said. ìWe have lots of good relationships with our peer agencies across the province that can provide treatment.ìWe are able to help people who call here looking for those referrals or agencies. We work very well in partnership with the other agencies.îThose other agencies, in turn, often refer people to the society for help, Hoffman said.ìIf the other support agencies have people coming to see them at the hospitals or through Alberta Health Services or addiction and mental health people, they also know about us. We work in a close loop that way,î she said.Paul DuVal, chairman of the society, who is also a United Church minister, explained that helping people find the support and shelter they need is what drives the society's volunteers and its supporters.ìWe've all heard the saying that some people just prefer to live outside,î said DuVal. ìBut I think those of us who have been involved with this particular population are convinced that in reality there are very few people who would really prefer to live outside rather than to be inside and warm in the wintertime. That's one of the myths of the homeless era.ìMost studies have shown that if you give somebody a warm place to live with some appropriate supports and encouragements and deal with some of their issues, that they can adapt quite quickly to a decent place to live.îDuVal says anyone seeking help from the society should feel free to call 1-403-347-0181.
