Windsor homeless shelters at or near capacity as charity says no sleeping bags left to hand out

During a week where temperatures dipped below freezing, Windsor's homeless shelters and support centres are preparing for Winter months. They say they're having difficulties meeting the needs of the city's growing homeless population.

The Downtown Mission and Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families are both at or near capacity, according to Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin.

"We shouldn't be at capacity already but unfortunately we are," said Pooniah-Goulin, executive director of the mission. 

It has room for about 200 people each night and is preparing for more people to stay at the shelter for the colder months ahead. 

"We all are trying to prepare for the winter with extra crash mats and things like that," she told the city's community services standing committee on Wednesday. 

Those changes should allow for another 25 to 30 people to stay at the shelter. 

City staff told the committee there were 549 people who were homeless in Windsor as of last December. 

Street Help, a volunteer run organization that provides meals and clothing for hundreds of people each month, is putting out a call for sleeping bags after handing out its last one earlier this week.

"It was really heartbreaking for us throughout today as people were asking if they could have a sleeping bag and we had to turn them away," said Christine Wilson-Furlong who runs the homeless centre. 

She said they had to turn away more than 60 people looking for a sleeping bag.

"It's just going to get colder and people are going to be more desperate and we fear for them."

Wilson-Furlong said that previous years they've asked the community to donate 300 sleeping bags to last through the first months of the winter.

This year she expects to need 400 more to meet demand because of the growing population. 

"It's hard for us right now."