Hay River mom and young son with autism struggle to find place to stay

Despite public assurances from the N.W.T. government that wildfire evacuees with special needs would be set up with hotels, a mother and her young son who has autism were on their own to find accommodations after their requests went unanswered. 

Irene Angulalik and her five-year-old son Kaiden Macphail are among thousands of Hay River and Kátł'odeeche First Nation residents who've been displaced from their homes by an out-of-control wildfire. 

Evacuees can stay in cots at the Yellowknife Multiplex, but Angulalik said the facility would be overstimulating for Macphail, who also has issues with his neck. 

"It's very busy, and he has a very hard time sitting still, and I felt that he would've been bugging people. And it's too loud for him," she said. 

Angulalik said she went to the assessment centre at the Yellowknife Multiplex and spoke to a worker about accommodations at a hotel. 

The worker said they'd see if there were any available rooms, but when Angulalik followed up, the worker said they still didn't have an answer. 

Angulalik then began looking for a place herself.

She posted on the Hay River Evacuees Facebook page looking for accommodations and was in touch with a few organizations, but little came from it. 

She said she is now staying with a friend who housed her during last year's floods, for which she's very thankful. 

Angulalik said she is appreciative of all the resources being provided at the evacuation centre, and the workers' efforts.

But she said she's concerned for vulnerable evacuees who don't have connections in the city. 

"It really hurts me to see a lot of the elderly and those with walkers and even wheelchairs," she said. "Definitely think that there should be more options for them, you know, especially being set up in a hotel."

Assessment process

The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) said it couldn't speak directly to Angulalik's situation for privacy reasons.

Spokesperson David Maguire said that at the beginning of the Hay River and Kátł'odeeche First Nation evacuation, the NTHSSA secured about 50 hotel rooms in Yellowknife for people whose needs meant they couldn't stay at the Multiplex.

However, at least 20 of these rooms were set aside for people in supported living situations, and the total number of rooms may fluctuate based on need and availability, said Maguire.

He said they have been "triaging" people who needed those rooms based on the urgency of the requests.

"Now that things have settled, we have looped back to a number of individuals who would have been lower in our triage for alternate accommodations," he wrote, adding many of them have found somewhere else to stay already.

"Our goal is to use our limited resources to assist as many people as possible and those who have the highest needs first."

Lorie-Anne Danielson, chief operating officer of the NTHSSA, said services are available through an assessment process to determine who might be in need of a hotel.

"We have an occupational therapist here who is assessing the need... We have some hotel rooms where we're caring for those individuals," Danielson said.

She said this could extend to new parents, those with a disability and the elderly.

Jay Boast, a spokesperson for the department of Municipal and Community Affairs, said in an email that the evacuation centre is for people who have no other arrangements. 

But those who make their own arrangements do so at their own cost.

'Not again'

Before the evacuation happened, Angulalik was already in Yellowknife with Macphail on medical travel. 

She said when she heard of the evacuation, it brought her back to a year ago when flooding had displaced her and her son.

"I was thinking not again, not again," she said.  

Angulalik said the whole situation has been stressful for her — and a financial burden. 

"I did get paid from work but that all went to bills and if I had known that this was gonna happen I would have held off on those," she said. 

"So we are struggling financially, but there is free food. They have helped a lot over at the evacuation centre but we're still struggling."

Angulalik said she doesn't have a car and has had to pay for cab fare to get around. 

She said at the very least Macphail has enjoyed the chance to socialize with other children at the evacuation centre, but she just wants to get home. 

"He's doing alright, he's been having fun and hanging out with the other kids. So we're OK, but I'm stressed out," Angulalik said.