The date for Dorie's House to open its' doors has arrived.

The Southwest Youth Emergency Shelter will be officially opening Sunday morning at 9 a.m. to the youths in need across southwest Saskatchewan.

Executive Director of the Southwest YES Betty McDougall shared her joy of Dorie's House being opened.

"I think I'm going to be pretty overwhelmed with excitement. For all of us who have been working really hard at this, it's really getting to be emotional and sometimes it hard to believe it's here finally," McDougall said. "It will be so exciting, it's such a strong positive move for the city of Swift Current to have a facility like this and for us to be able to support youth in the whole southwest."

She went on to speak about the challenges the shelter faces moving forward.

"Our greatest challenge now is the funding for staffing. We just heard back from our second proposal to the government since we've been working on (Dorie's House), that there is no funding for us for 2017 and 2018. It's going to be a challenge to work towards, our staffing is two staff on per shift 24/7, that's quite an expense to the organization," McDougall said.

To help with the staffing costs, the Southwest YES has taken out a mortgage against Dorie's House to pay for the staffing required.

McDougall also explained how the shelter will decide which youths will fill the eight beds on a nightly basis.

"What we will be doing is looking at immediate need and safety. For example, if there is a youth sleeping in a car.... (they will be accepted in) now because it's winter time they would have priority here. That is going to be the toughest part of the opening," she said.

The shelter is planning to have youths spend their first night at Dorie's House on Sunday evening.

For more information email southwestyes@gmail.com