Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 17, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Inside Story Winnipeg free press january a step ahead of icy death Agency Van drunk last Hope main Street project worker Clayton Dorota watches As bars by Stevens wild staff reporter Clayton Dorota spots the ambulance in front of the Patricia hotel on main its and two ambulance attendants Are half dragging a Drunken Man from the hotel to a waiting but the cabbie wants nothing to do with the who is too drunk to stand on his i guess that where we come Dorota Wheeling his beat up Van in behind the Dorota is a member of the main Street projects night patrol which this month resumed its daily service of searching the inner City for drunks in danger of freezing to bitter Winter cold prompted the resumption of the patrols even though it could create a deficit for the the project will continue the patrols for three John its executive the project also began foot patrols this month for the first time in four its More Tim consuming and a lot but walking takes the patrols into areas inaccessible by Dorota spends eight hours a night combing the Core area by Van and on on this particular the goods and services tax cheques Are in Peoples hands and the thermometer has dropped to with a wind chill of for some the combination could be a death one of those people is an alcoholic and solvent abuser known to Dorota because he has been banned from the main Street project drunk tank for violent it is Norman who needs rescuing he has now climbed into the Back of the clearly irritating the his Girlfriend talks him into getting he collapses in the Snow and Dorota pulls him into the normans who identifies herself As says Norman won at now Hes drinking his its my Norman in Dorota pulls up in front of normans apartment on Balmoral but Norman wont get out of the get Violet says working alone because his partner has gone Home with the a patient Dorota drags Norman out of the where he collapses again in the with the help of a photographer and a Dorota gets Norman into his its one of the busiest nights for the main Street for the hotel bars along the the project Marks these Days on its Calendar welfare child tax credit get rebate the get refunds delivered on this Day provided a minimum of for everyone with a poverty level some people convert the Cheque to alcohol in a matter of that what Beryl has Shes been to the Mclaren hotel and to another cant remember its now she is staggering along Higgins Shes not wearing gloves or a hat and her coat does not look like it was made for the Rigours of a Winnipeg Dorota pulls up in front of the woman and offers her a ride to the Beryl is willing to accept the its cold she breathes on another brutally cold night in Early a Hooker recognizes two men As they walk past her spot on Logan till looking for bums she asks with a Bob and Stewart Are members of the foot if we pick up one person in three that one less person who will freeze to Stewart id like to know that if i was in that somebody would be there starting on James Street in front of the chinese cultural Bob and asked that their last names not be a route along the West Side of main Street that takes them As far North As Logan Avenue and As far South As Mcdermott past City Hall and old Market Bob and Stewart have both worked for the main Street project for More than two years and know the Core area theres not an Alley in the area left they look under loading inside abandoned alongside heated every Nook and cranny is looks like weve just missed someone by five says Stewart As he looks at footprints in an they Point to a spot on Logan where a client of the main Street project named fast Eddie was found in bad he later died at the that where a group of them like to go and have a drink in the helped by Norman makes it Home he was on a Binge after winning at says pointing to a spot near the salvation army Booth Centre on Henry Bob looks up at an abandoned someone has pushed a Hole into a boarded up if someones in be cold but they wont freeze to but the Large number of empty buildings in the Core area leave Many abandoned Corners in which drunks can fall asleep and Lysol bottles Are visible in the alleys even in mixed with Lysol is a popular and powerful Bob the problem with the stuff they drink it Doest take Long for them to pass Bob they drink it so they cant get to the project or the some slum landlords use a few dollars to persuade welfare recipients not to use their even though the welfare department has paid for the Bob and Stewart this allows the landlord to rent the space to someone collecting double the welfare recipients either stay outside or find alternative accommodation like the main Street the number of people at the Hostel gives a sense of How Many people Are out Bob if its fewer than the average of 30 per the staff will know there May be people sleeping in the but on this night the Hostel is slowly filling with Daze looking men in dirty they sleep on Mats without blankets in a room that stinks of stale Beryl is fast asleep in a this is sort of like a meeting Dorota their friends Are its warm they feel secure a lot of them have health theres someone to watch free press photos by Phil Hossack Dorota opens door of preparing to unload while several main Street project clients sleep it off in the Dorota pauses for a cup of ;