On a frigid night in December, seventy people came out of the cold into Siloam’s newly opened Winter Overnight Warming Space (WOWS). For many, it was more than just shelter – it was hope, safety, and a place to rest. Over the next hundred-plus nights, WOWS would continue to be a critical life-saving space for people needing warmth, support, and care.
The journey to WOWS began a year and a half ago – when Winnipeg’s shelters came together to acknowledge that, heading into fall, they had hit capacity earlier than any other year. Knowing that this would mean unsafe situations heading into the winter months, advocacy began for additional funding to run a warming space through the winter.
Last summer, shelters barely dipped below capacity – and advocacy began even earlier, leading to WOWS.
Over the course of 111 nights, 2,172 different individuals used WOWS — more people than were identified as experiencing homelessness during Winnipeg’s last city-wide count. This reflects how dramatically homelessness has grown in our city. Over one-third of those who used WOWS stayed for only a single night, and another third stayed five nights or fewer — showing that for many, WOWS was a temporary, life-saving stop, not a replacement for housing.
And that’s the point — it wasn’t meant to be. WOWS offered urgent shelter when nothing else was available, but what people truly need is permanent, safe, affordable housing. The short stays don’t signal a lack of need, they highlight how few long-term options exist. With a lack of affordable social housing (Calgary has 9 units for every 20 people in need – Winnipeg only has 3), emergency spaces like WOWS become the last resort. In the short term, they save lives. But in the long term, only housing can provide stability, dignity, and a real way forward.
