"Is anybody home? Paul Miscavish shouts.
Photographer Boris Minkevich and I are sliding down the icy bank of the Red River, a few blocks from the Alexander Docks, on a dark and frigid night. We're looking for a man named Mike, who's said to be camping here.
It's about 10 p.m. It's been snowing all day, but we come across fresh footprints, so we know Mike passed this way recently.
Miscavish knows the territory. His life used to be like Mike's: drinking too much, sleeping where he could, staying alive. Now he's been off the street for nearly four months, living at Mainstay, transitional housing run by the Main Street Project.
We met him there and now he's volunteered to be our guide to this hidden world.
It's 25 below zero and the wind, though light, pushes the windchill to minus 34. Miscavish presses ahead on Mike's trail and then calls back: "There's a bonfire going. Come warm up."
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/the_homeless_in_winter.html
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