Support Spruce-Bough

Our dad, Gunnar Paulson, passed away on Thursday, September 30th. He was an incredible man, known for his ability to make people laugh, turn strangers into friends, and care deeply.

Without the staff at the Spruce Bough program, we would have lost precious time with him.

 

He liked to say “he was rough and tough and hard to bluff,” but for many years, he carried a weight that was hard to bear. Towards the end of his life, he really struggled. It wasn’t a journey he decided to embark on, but it was the journey he was on.

 

The Arnica Inn became his home and their staff nurtured an environment where he felt safe, comfortable, and supported. It was a home unlike any other. 

Their staff alerted us when his health started to decline rapidly. They genuinely cared for our dad, and because of that, it gave us time to be with him during an incredibly hard time. We laughed, shared our regrets, goodbyes, and spent quality time together as a family.

 

We are immensely grateful for the program which funds the Arnica Inn and we firmly believe that it must continue for years to come.

 

When the pandemic first hit, the Yellowknife Women’s Society and the territorial government funded the Spruce-Bough program, creating an alcohol-managed program at the Arnica Inn, which was vacant at the time.

 

The program was designed to provide a space to isolate and shelter those most vulnerable to developing serious illness if they were to contract COVID-19. Currently, it is funded entirely through pandemic-specific funding streams.

 

It is not merely a place to isolate- it is a community. 

 

We want to help create financial security and certainty that the community can continue to thrive and support folks like our dad, extending beyond the pandemic. 

 

It is difficult to be housing insecure in Yellowknife, to say the least. Businesses are adversarial to shelters, many residents are unsupportive, and the city council cannot seem to find consensus on how to best support its most vulnerable.

 

People who are housing insecure also face extreme levels of violence, harm, racism, and they are often treated with indignity.

 

Shelter, safety, and a sense of community is a necessary first step to support healing. It can be a matter of life or death.

We urge you to please consider donating to the Spruce-Bough and to sign a letter in support of the incredibly valuable work they do.

 

Mahsi cho,

 

Hannah Paulson, Josanne Kenny, Kristen Tanche.


Below are some resources to help provide context about the Spruce-Bough program and issues related to housing in Yellowknife and the N.W.T., 

- How the COVID19 pandemic turned an empty Yellowknife motel into a hub of support 
- With deadline near GNWT optimistic Spruce Bough will keep funding 
- City councillors vote down Yellowknife day shelter proposal 
- City council says no to the GNWT’s day shelter plan