Now that winter has arrived, Powell River’s homeless have a place to stay on cold nights.
Powell River has 20 beds available on a nightly basis under BC Housing’s temporary shelter program.
Stuart Clark, executive director of Lift Community Services, said under BC Housing, there are different types of protocols and shelters funded.
Clark said for several years, Powell River had what was known as an emergency weather response shelter. If the weather turned bad, such as -2 degrees Celsius, heavy rain, or both, the facility would be open on just those occasions. In the past it has been in several locations, most recently in the Salvation Army.
Clark said the winter of 2018 was the first time an application was put in to open up a temporary winter shelter.
“That means it’s open every night for a period of time,” said Clark. “We had to apply to BC Housing and demonstrate a need, and we were able to make that case with support from Vancouver Coastal Health and the people who work with the population that lives on the street. [BC Housing] approved that last year for the first time. Up to 20 people could sleep in the shelter and we hosted it at the Community Resource Centre (CRC). That was last winter and it worked okay.”
Clark said last year, BC Housing also approved some start-up funding to provide cots, bedding and those sorts of items. The problem with the CRC is it had to be set up every night and taken down every morning, and it was a bit of a tight space in there, according to Clark. This winter, he said a decision was made to find a new home and a new partner.
“It took a while, but luckily, in October, right when we applied again and got the money, it was the Faith Lutheran Church that answered our call and they said we could use their basement,” added Clark. “It’s perfect, it’s bigger, it has a kitchen and we didn’t have to take down the beds every night. We only have to take them down Saturday nights so the church can use the basement on Sundays.”
Clark said there has been a wonderful community response when calls have been put out for clothing and socks and other items.
“People have dropped off clothing and all kinds of things,” he added. “It has been pretty great.”
While the space has been approved for 20 beds, Clark said the biggest night was 17 individuals sleeping in the facility. Now that the supportive housing facility has opened, Clark said the numbers will be monitored and the occupancy of the shelter should be going down.
“Most people at the shelter are now moving into supportive housing,” he added.
The shelter will be open until the end of March. Clark said it is an important community service, and more so than in previous years. He said when representatives of his organization go to conferences and gatherings, they hear the story of homelessness across the board.
“Our community is seeing an increase and there are a lot of reasons for that,” said Clark. “Affordability is one of them.”
Powell River’s temporary shelter facility is open seven days a week from 9:30 pm to 7:45 am.
In a recent media release from the provincial government, minister of municipal affairs and housing Selina Robinson commented on shelters for the homeless.
“During the colder months, it’s important that people experiencing homelessness in our province know that there is a place they can go to get warm and find supports and services that can help them stabilize their lives,” stated Robinson. “As we continue the work of building permanent housing, we’re proud to work in partnership with communities and non-profit housing providers to provide these shelter spaces.”
