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14TuesdayFebruary42013HealthWellnessHomelessnessHealthWellnessHomelessnessByMARIACHURCHForthefirsttimeshel-teragenciesfromacrosstheNWTwereinthesameroomsharingideasonbestpracticestomeetthechal-lengesofhomelessnessinCanadasNorth.TheYellowknifeHome-lessnessCoalitionYHChostedaworkshopanddem-onstrationtointroduceshelteragenciesfromTuktoyaktuktoFortSmithtoacomputer-basedtrackingsysteminYel-lowknifelastThursday.CalledtheHomelessIn-dividualsandFamiliesIn-formationSystemHIFISthecomputersoftwarewasdevelopedbythefederalgovernmenttotrackwhosusingwhatshelterswhen.DayleHernbladcoor-dinatorwiththeYHCandorganizeroftheworkshopsaidwhileYellowknifesheltershavebeensuc-cessfullyusingHIFISforyearsideallythesystemwillbeadoptedacrosstheterritory.HernbladsaidNWTshel-tersfaceuniquechallengessuchascoldweatherhigherByMARIACHURCHUnderneathallofthelay-ersofbulkywintergearPhilMeagherHansZundelandKenKrahnareactuallyprettyskinnyguystheyjoke.Itsaround400p.m.andtheteamofthreeFortMc-MurraymenonATVshasjustpulledintoFortSmithafterninehourshurtlingdowntheiceroadontheir4-wheelers.Whilethemenwereallchucklesandsmilesaftertheirngerandtoe-numbingadventuretheyexplainedthatthetripwasaboutmorethanjustgoodtimesitwastoraiseawarenessandmoneyfortheCentreforHopehomelessshelterinFortMcMurray.ThisistheeighthyearKrahnatirestoremanagerinFortMcMurrayhasor-ganizedandledtheRideforHopequadding500kmfromFortMcMurraytoFortSmithinlessthanaday.AfterlastyearstrekKrahnsgrandtotalismorethan100000raised.TheteamthisyearincludedMea-gherandZundelbothrst-timeiceroadATV-ersandbroughtinanother15000forthecause.IceroadATV-ersraiseover100000forhomelessTheweatherconditionsonthisyearstripmadeitsigni-cantlycolderthanlastyearwithtemperaturesaround-27CwhentheteamleftFortMcMurrayat500a.m.andhoveringbelow-20Cformostofthedrive.AwestwindhitthemenhardaroundFortChipewyanbutdidlittletoshaketheirresolve.Eventhoughwewerecoldattheendofthedayweretryingtoraiseaware-nesstoletpeopleknowwecandothisbecausewegotallthegearandstuffbutsomepeopledonthavethatluxuryZundelsaid.Thisistheirlifelivingonthestreetsinthesetemperatures.Despitetheirheavyoutt-tingwhichincludedbootsmadeforArctictempera-turesbelow-50CitdidntquitekeepthefeetfromgoingnumbonaquadMea-ghernoted.MeagheramunicipalcouncillorinFortMcMur-rayhasahistorywithcoldtemperaturesafterafund-raisingeffortlastMarchhadhimcross-countryskifromFortMcMurraytoFortChiponlytobeforcedtoquit50kmfromthenishlinebe-causeofhealthconcerns.IconvincedhimquaddingwouldbemucheasierKrahnsaidwithalaugh.Luckilyinsomerespectsthequadsseemedtorunoutofgasinturnsduringthetrekwhichmeantmorethansixstopsfortheteamtofuelup.Thefrequentbreaksgavethemenachancetomovearoundandforcethefeelingbackintotheirfrozendigits.Fortheupcoming10than-niversaryrideKrahnsaidhehopestoconvinceevenmorefriendsandfellowATVad-venturerstomakethejour-neywithhimallthewaytoHayRiver.Imoutoftownthatweek-endMeagherjokedget-tingaheartandtoe-warminglaughfromtheteam.ThemoneyraisedfromthistripwillbegoingdirectlytotheCentreforHopesSubzeroChallengeaninitiativethatchallengesFortMcMurrayresidentstogive100towardsprovidingwarmclothingtoahomelessindividualduringthewintermonths.DonationscanbemadeonlineattheCentreofHopewebsiteatwww.fmcentreof-hope.comdirectlytotheSub-zeroChallengeuntilMar.1atwww.subzerochallenge.caorbycallingKrahnat780715-8102.PhotoMariaChurchFromleftHanzZundelKenKrahnandPhilMeaghercelebrateinFortSmithafteranine-hourquadridefromFortMcMurrayonthewinterroadalltoraisemoneyfortheCentreforHopehomelessshelter.NWTsheltersgathertoshareideasonhomelessnessnumbersofaddictionsandothersocialissuesaswellasisolationexperiencedbyalargechunkofthepopula-tion.AdoptingtheHIFISsys-temwillhopefullyshedsomelightonareasofconcernsoworkcanbeginonsolutionsshesaid.HIFISkeepsdataandhistoryandhelpsustobasi-callyunderstandhomeless-nessandtheuseofsheltersbydifferentpopulationsdifferentagesanddiffer-entgendersHernbladsaid.Thesoftwareisofferedfreeofchargetoshelter-ingagenciesbythefederalgovernment.Arepresen-tativewasinYellowknifefortheworkshoptogiveademonstrationonusingtheprogram.NWTsheltersoftenoverwhelmedUntilnowtheterritoryssheltershavenotbeenabletoarrangeforthesoftwarebe-causeofcapacityissuesandhighstaffturnoverHern-bladsaid.SpeakingfortheYellow-knifesheltersshesaidtheyareconstantlyfacedwithtrainingnewstaffwhodontnecessarilystickaroundwhenamoreattractivesal-aryisoffered.TheproblemisexacerbatedbyYellow-knifeshigher-than-averagecostofliving.Beyondsharingthetech-nologytheworkshoplastweekgaveshelteragenciestheopportunitytodiscussproblemssuchasstafngagiantleapforwardforcom-municationandcollabora-tionintheterritoryHerb-landsaid.TheGNWTalsosentrep-resentativestoparticipateintheworkshopandjoininthedialogue.OptimismforchangegrowinginYellowknifeHernbladsaidthereappearstobearenewedairofoptimismwhenitcomestoaddressinghomelessnessinCanada.Nationaldiscussionhasbeengrowingaboutthesuc-cessofatransformationalhousingmodelcalledHousingFirst.Thenewmodelrapidlymoveshomelessindividualsintohousesachangefromtheformermodelthathasindivid-ualsmovedslowlythroughastep-by-stepsystemtowardspermanenthousing.ProjectslikeBettyHouse-currentlyunderconstructioninYellowknife-thatprovideimmediatetransitionalhous-ingforhomelessindividu-alsisbuildingexcitementinthecityastheprojectmovesclosertoopeningthisspringHernbladsaid.WebecauseofouruniquechallengesintheNortharestronglyencouragedtousethemodelshesaid.CertainlyitfeelslikeinYellowknifeanywaythatthereisarenewedexcite-mentorbeliefthatwecanaffectchange.RepresentativesfromhomelesssheltersacrosstheNWTgatherinYellowknifetolearnaboutanewsoftwaresystemaswellasshareideasandbestpractices.PhotoDayleHernblad