Hope Mission will begin operating a 24/7 emergency shelter in Red Deer on April 1, responding to rising homelessness in the community.
The organization was selected by the province in December to serve as the shelter operator. While location details are still being finalized, services will reflect what Hope Mission provides in other communities: meals and shelter, HopeHealth services, housing support, and wraparound care.
The need for emergency shelter in Red Deer has increased significantly. The 2024 Point-in-Time Count identified 747 people experiencing homelessness in Red Deer — more than double the number recorded just two years earlier.
“The need is growing, and we believe we can help,” says Ade Adeoye, director of emergency care and housing. “We’re coming in with many years of experience operating shelters.”
The Red Deer shelter will operate 24/7, meaning guests will not be required to leave during the day — a model Hope Mission has increasingly adopted in Edmonton.
“We weren’t always doing that, but we’ve developed this model over time,” says Ade. “It’s easier for guests and for staff, and there are significant benefits to operating that way.”
Continuous operations allow guests to stabilize and connect directly with identification and income supports, housing services, and recovery programs. It also reduces the daily disruption of large groups exiting shelters into nearby neighbourhoods.
Hope Mission also plans to bring its experience in designing dignified shelter spaces.
“In our shelters, beds are arranged with dividers to provide more privacy,” says Ade. “That also has positive implications for infection control and overall well-being. We plan to bring those same standards to Red Deer — semi-private bed spaces, recognizing that shelter is a temporary stopgap, while still striving to make it as dignified and humane as possible.”
Guests will have access to secure storage, including lockers and two 100-litre totes per person, allowing them to safely store their belongings.
- Read more: Life-saving care and 24/7 shelter
While Hope Mission shelters are low-barrier, substance use is not permitted inside the shelter. Staff are trained to respond to complex needs with trauma-informed approaches, de-escalation strategies, and connections to HopeHealth, housing, and recovery services.
Since the summer of 2024, Hope Mission has been operating its rescue van in Red Deer, proactively engaging community members and providing food, clothing, and water. That work revealed significant food insecurity among people experiencing homelessness.
“Across all our programs at Hope Mission, we believe that hope begins with a meal,” says Ade. “With operating a shelter in Red Deer, providing consistent meals is one of the things we’re definitely bringing to the table.”
Hope Mission develops partnerships that reduce strain on emergency responders and the health care system by connecting people directly to identification and income supports, housing, and recovery services.
- Read more: Rapid response reduces overdose deaths
In Edmonton, that includes a health access navigator embedded in a local hospital’s emergency room, a 110-bed HopeHealth shelter with a shuttle that brings unhoused patients directly from the hospital after discharge, and the provincial Navigation Centre, which co-locates housing, income, cultural, and recovery supports in one hub.
“Having co-located services and connecting people to appropriate resources has been very effective in helping people exit encampments and enter housing,” says Ade. “That’s an approach we incorporate into any space we operate.”
The organization has been involved in the Red Deer community for several years through a range of preventative programs: after-school clubs, drop-in kids’ activities and youth mentorship, school breakfasts, frozen meals and community dinners for families facing food insecurity, and summer day camps.
- Read more: Red Deer preventative programs
For Hope Mission’s emergency care team, there’s a lot to get ready before April 1.
“We are hiring staff right now and are close to having a full team in place. We’ve ordered beds and mattresses, and we’re ordering storage totes,” says Ade. “We’re working through all the logistics, making sure we have everything needed to run the operation.”
The expansion into Red Deer reflects both a response to a growing need and an opportunity to apply years of experience.
“The work is ongoing,” says Ade. “One thing I’ve realized is that Hope Mission is always iterating. We’re always learning.”