Smithers Interior News, September 11, 2013

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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

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Homeless situation improving By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News

OH CANADA Antje Seydlitz-Kurbach rows to silver medal at worlds.

SPORTS/A7

POSITIVE STEPS The Terry Fox run goes through the Bulkley Valley Sunday.

COMMUNITY/A11

INSIDE LETTERS A5 SPORTS A7 COMMUNITY A11 OUR TOWN A13 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B5

Steps are being taken to ensure no one is left out in the cold this winter. A room full of community health professionals gathered with town councillors last week to brainstorm ways to deal with the short-term needs of the homeless community before the mercury drops. “This has to happen now. This is an emergency. People need to have shelter,” said Joan LeClair with the Smithers Action Group Association. LeClair estimated the Smithers homeless population to be at between 50 and 100 and said she knows of three people who died last year due to the effects of sleeping outdoors. Strategies such as building permanent tent camps, gaining access to spaces at churches and gymnasiums, looking at renting available motel rooms, using modified shipping containers and utilizing vacant buildings were all thrown around as possible short-term solutions. By the end of the two-hour session, High Road Services Society executive director Dana Gorbahn said he would ask his board for the budget to purchase and set up three temporary housing structures on land they own on 16th Ave., across from the Hilltop Pub. While council and staff said the location on 16th Ave. and Main St. is still up for debate, most seemed to agree the proposal could work for the coming winter. Three shelters could accommodate up to 12 people. High Road would coordinate health care for the individuals living in the units. “Another important part is they’ll have a specific location so they can access health care, get a post office box, get identification,” Gorbahn said. “You can’t get those things unless you have a physical location so this could help them achieve those kinds of things.” High Road Services Society is one organization that is currently working on building a supportive housing project in Smithers. The other is the Smithers Action Group Association. Town council has given that group a piece of land for a development they are working on. The SAGA project would allow homeless people to have their own space and access to health care services, LeClair said.

ACES WILD Downhill mountain biking enthusiasts took to Ptarmigan Trail over the weekend to train with Trail Dynamic’s Steve Wilson, who flew up from Vancouver to hold his Four Aces camp. Nolan Kelly photo

NWCC offers free mining course Aiming to get unemployed back to work

By Ryan Jensen Smithers/Interior News

In response to growing industry demands, Northwest Community College is now offering a mining fundamentals course free to eligible particpants. The program was developed to assist unemployed individuals gain entrylevel employment in

“This time we changed it up because mining is heating up,” -Charlynn Toews NWCC

the mining industry and to ensure there is a well-trained workforce in place to staff the major projects taking

place in the region, explained Charlynn Toews, workforce training and continuing studies with NWCC.

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In the past, the college has run a similar program for construction helpers and labourers but with the increase in mining activity, they changed the focus this year, Toews said. “The funding we have is for people who are unemployed and not on EI,” she said. “This time we changed it up because mining is heating up.” See MINE on A3

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