Yellowknife Street Outreach launches new van

Yellowknifers may have noticed a new Street Outreach van on the road.

The program, run by the Yellowknife Women’s Society, provides free transportation and food to the city’s street-involved population.

Kim Robinson, coordinator of Street Outreach, said the new vehicle arrived in Yellowknife in the third week of July and logos were applied last weekend.

“The van did experience its first flat tire, but that has since been repaired,” she said by email.

Robinson said the new van is equipped with a ramp, which means the program can better support people who use wheelchairs.

The vehicle also has additional storage for warm clothing and snacks.

The Street Outreach van is on the road seven days a week from 10am to 10pm.

The program previously had two vehicles, one of which Robinson described in January as being “on its last leg.”

When one vehicle was in the shop and the other was experiencing heating issues, the program was temporarily forced off the road during a cold snap in January.

Neither vehicle was wheelchair-accessible, which posed a challenge for people who use mobility aids.

The city agreed earlier this year to give $230,000 in federal Reaching Home funding to the Yellowknife Women’s Society to purchase the van.

In the longer term, the women’s society aims to expand the program to an advanced care model, which would include emergency first aid, case management, harm reduction and some public health services.

That program is expected to require $1.1 million in startup costs.