You might think that homelessness becomes less of an issue in Winnipeg during the summer months - but you'd be wrong.

While warmer weather can help mitigate some of the health risks associated with spending prolonged periods of time outdoors (such as the possibility of freezing to death), it also comes with its own set of unique challenges.

"It's a different type of problem: there's hydration issues and sunstroke issues because of lack of shelter, not to miss the fact that if you sleep outside and you're not properly equipped, you can be bit by all kinds of things," says John Mohan, executive director of Siloam Mission.

Siloam is a non-profit Christian humanitarian organization and one of Winnipeg's busiest support agencies for the city's homeless - a population that's estimated to be around 1,700.

Operating out of 300 Princess St., Siloam offers a variety of free services and programming, including meals and emergency shelter, clothing and toiletries, medical, dental, optical and chiropractic services, employment training, art classes and computer-literacy programming, and counselling and referrals.

The need for services - shelter in particular - has actually increased since the weather began to warm up, Mohan says. The agency's second-floor sleeping area, for example (named Hannah's Place after Hannah Taylor, the young founder of the Ladybug Foundation), has room for 101 beds, but slept 107 people last Tuesday night - six more than capacity.

People are more mobile during the summer, Mohan explains, while those who spent the winter months living in unsafe, high-risk situations out of necessity become more willing to take their chances on the streets. Similarly, the "hard-to-house" - people who are struggling with severe addictions or mental illnesses - can also find themselves kicked out of their living arrangements at this time of year.

Wayne Smith has been the director of Siloam's emergency shelter since it opened last May. During its first month of operation, Smith says about 1,500 people availed themselves of a bed. A year later, that monthly number has doubled.

During an afternoon tour in advance of the nightly influx, Hannah's Place is quiet and calm - a contrast to the main-floor drop-in, which buzzes with activity as groups of people mill about, drinking coffee and chatting. Sun streams through the large windows onto orderly rows of empty beds, and plants hang sporadically throughout the room.

"We've really tried to up the dignity level," Smith says, noting that the shelter's patrons are usually more than willing to help keep the area clean - a task that assists staff and helps build self-esteem and a sense of responsibility.

Siloam's main goal is to assist people as they transition away from street life, but Smith says the agency also works hard at putting a face to the issue of homelessness.

"It's not 'homeless people' - it's people who are homeless. They're people with cancer, people who've gone through a divorce, people who've had a bad day and want to talk to someone," he says.

Siloam's annual operating budget is $4.1 million. Government funding accounts for only 9% of that figure, with the remainder coming from individual and corporate donations.

With so many Winnipeggers leaving town, on vacation or otherwise preoccupied, summertime is usually Siloam's worst financial quarter of the year, Mohan says - one of the reasons he's about to embark on a 10-day, 1,300-km bike trip from Calgary to Winnipeg.

Calling the initiative his "mid-life crisis bikeathon for the homeless" (he's turning 50 on June 7), Mohan hopes to raise $100,000 between June 13 and 23, and says he's already received $5,000 in pledges, as well as a deal on his bike and equipment, courtesy of Bikes & Beyond.

All money raised will be used to support Siloam's meal program, health center, emergency shelter and employment training program.

To find out more or to sponsor Mohan on his ride, call 956-4344 or go to www.siloam.ca
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