It should be no surprise that Yellowknife's amalgamated sobering centre and day shelter and its proponents would be the recipient of a prestigious award.
The NWT Disabilities Council, medical supply company Advanced Medical Solutions, and the territorial government were awarded the the 2018 Premier's Award for their collaborative efforts in getting this vital facility into operation.
It's been no easy task and there are still plenty of naysayers who question whether the shelter should even be operating downtown. The day shelter faced opposition wherever it resided, whether it be its original location on 51 Street or its previous home at 49 Street across the road from Centre Square Mall.
The new combined day shelter and overnight sobering centre likewise is not without problems. As the across-the-street neighbour and owner of the building, Yellowknifer sees it every single day: the public intoxication, unruliness and occasional bouts of violence outside.
But it if we're being honest about history there is no denying the city – and the homeless this facility serves – is in a far better place than it once was, when bank lobbies and store entrances were routinely taken over by people looking for a warm place to sleep and certain downtown alleys were open latrines.
It's certainly worth noting the enormous cost to taxpayers and drain on resources when RCMP were routinely filling cells with intoxicated people or city dispatch was being inundated with calls for ambulances.
The day shelter and sobering centre, along with the city's safe ride program, have absorbed much of the burden. And the city's homeless population is safer for it.
No longer do people have to weigh the option of sleeping outside while intoxicated versus getting arrested so they can be somewhere warm at night.
A decade ago, when the John Howard Society opened the first day shelter on a wafer-thin budget in a narrow little building on 51 Street, users often referred to it as “a dog house.” The location was often criticized for being a Band-aid solution to out-of-control public drunkenness and excessive downtown loitering.
Today, under the NWT Disabilities Council with more generous funding from the city and territorial governments, the facility comes with amenities such as laundry, bathrooms, and showers. It has set a higher standard for how we treat the less fortunate on our streets, and in turn it has made our city safer.
As one unnamed shelter user told Yellowknifer last week: “Oh my God, remember the old place? This is like a hotel. You've got bathrooms, showers and these people do care.”
Access to a secure, centralized physical environment, we believe, will go a long way in making Yellowknife a better place for everybody. It offers dignity and respect for its users and allows police and other first responders to put their efforts toward other priorities.
The shelter and the people behind it deserve recognition and kudos for making Yellowknife a better place. So congratulations to all as recipients of this year's Premier's Award. You deserve it.