After months of searching, BC Housing announced it was partnering with a newly formed community group in Kelowna, BC to open a temporary homeless shelter called the Welcome Inn.
The former panel building of the Metro Community Church is being renovated and will open in the city of Okanagan in late December or early January.
The shelter’s co-manager and church council chairman Jason Siebenga told Radio West host Sarah Penton it was necessary because other shelters in Kelowna are full.
“It’s disturbing to think that with the resources we have in this community, people these days have to sleep outside. It just feels so inhuman, ”said Siebenga.
Homeless campers on Leon Avenue in Kelowna. A new shelter is slated to open at 1265 Ellis Street in early January. (Brady Strachan / CBC)
Funding for an emergency shelter has been provided by the province since the end of October. So far, however, the city has not been able to find a location.
In late November, the city of Kelowna closed a downtown homeless tent city citing security concerns and telling campers they could set up in two parks in the north of the city.
This came after pressure increased from local companies leaving the Leon Avenue area for saying they could not work in such circumstances.
The city estimates that 60 to 80 people are currently homeless.
Hoping to expand to 40 beds
Siebenga reported as co-manager of the Welcome Inn with Tara Tschritter, a local businesswoman and former manager of the now closed Inn From The Cold Shelter.
The makeshift shelter at 1265 Ellis Street will have 20 beds but could be expanded to 40 if enough volunteers are found, BC Housing said in a statement.
Shelter guests have access to daily meals provided by the Gospel Mission, washrooms, item storage, and a common room. Siebenga said there will also be an overdose prevention website where residents can safely use drugs.
The Welcome Inn shelter is run by paid staff and volunteers. (Jason Siebenga)
The goal is to have the shelter open 24 hours a day, but that depends on the availability of staff and volunteers so it can only be open overnight at first.
The metro community also houses a heat center behind the shelter during the day.
Siebenga said they will have some paid staff, but they still need the community to help.
“We believe there is something in the volunteer base that could really matter to the wider community to help de-stigmatize and understand these realities,” he said.
The shelter is to remain open until March 31, 2020.
Future of camping in parks
News that a winter shelter location has been identified comes a week after BC Housing announced it would open 40 short-term beds in temporary bridge shelter on Fuller Avenue. The beds are for people who already have places in emergency shelters and are waiting for supporting housing units to open in the spring.
Between this and the Welcome Inn, 60 to 80 shelter spaces are possible. However, Darren Caul, director of community security for Kelowna, said it was hard to say whether it will be enough.
“The nature of the population makes it very difficult to get accurate estimates of the number of people living without a home in our community,” he said.
The city must be legally obliged to allow temporary emergency shelters in parks or public places if there are not enough shelters available. If there are enough shelter areas, it is possible to close the parks.
“Should we get to a place where there is indeed adequate protection, and that is an if, then we will definitely have a look,” said Caul.
However, the number of people without a shelter often shifts.
“We have to maintain the flexibility with regard to our parking areas, in case we find ourselves in the future or permanently in the position in which we have this legal obligation.”
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