Uquutaq Society executive director passes torch; new outreach program announced

The ceremony for outgoing Uquutaq Society executive director Laurel McCorriston was held on Dec. 31. The final day of the year was also used to celebrate the achievements of McCorriston who, in the words of incoming executive director Kevin Eaton, has “done nothing less than amazing things for this community.”

The Iqaluit organization provides services to the homeless community, including low- and high-barrier shelters (high barrier being sober and low barrier accepting people in all states), transitional housing, affordable housing, inclusive in-house services such as food programs (serving three meals a day at the high-barrier shelter, and meals from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the low-barrier shelter located across from the hospital). Recently, a new warming centre that operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is located at Building 1079 has been offering food, games, connections to services and a visiting doctor and clinical team on Tuesdays.

Eaton says McCorriston was instrumental in spearheading the renovations and development of Building 1079 — the offices of the Uquutaq Society — and Building 1077, which houses 30 high-barrier shelter beds and 17 transitional housing beds, with help from the City of Iqaluit, over the six years of her tenure. These developments “significantly increased the capacity of what Uquutaq could provide and serve the community in need,” says Eaton.

McCorriston took the Uquutaq Society from humble beginnings in what is now the Piviniit Society building. As her successor, Eaton has been preparing to fill her shoes since his move to Iqaluit from Vancouver in early September.

A member of the Ahousaht Nation, located on Vancouver Island, Eaton was contacted by a recruiter to fill the position.

“I love [the North] so far,” he says. “I love small towns. I love community. I love connections. There is nothing about the experience so far that has left anything but an amazing taste and vibe of energy with me.”

He added that his wife and child will join him later this year.

“We have an amazing volunteer board of directors... and all of the operational staff... I’m honoured to be in Iqaluit doing this needed and amazing work, and I feel blessed about how welcomed I’ve been so far,” says Eaton.

In addition, “we will be launching an outreach team, likely closer to the end of January,” he says, “reaching to our low-barrier shelter and warming centre.” The outreach team, which just received funding approval a few weeks ago, will "serve the unhoused community that weren’t able to access our services specifically, and needed gear: clothing, access to food, access to services, access to medical appointments, access to job services, interviews and so forth. Connecting them with the basics means to connect those with items that they may need in their walk or journey, removing barriers in their way.

“It’s just a matter of removing barriers,” elaborates Eaton. “Providing transportation, assisting folks in coordinating and setting up appointments with [care providers]... resume do-ups... basically it’s just gap-filling... in the next three weeks we’re going to hash out the specifics of this program... with the understanding that we’ve got limited beds... and we turn folks away on a daily basis at our low-barrier shelter, and people still come a-knockin’ on our high-barrier shelter, the turnover there is few and far between.

“So there is a homelessness population that is not able to access Uquutaq’s services simply because we don’t have enough beds. So that’s what they focus is — targeting, for lack of a better word, the street homeless.”

Regarding prospects in 2025, Eaton says, “I’m anxious and excited on what and where and how Uquutaq will grow to service those in need.”