Vancouver holiday weather a challenge for those experiencing homelessness; shelters offering extra spaces

With temperatures dropping to just above freezing this holiday weekend, those who are experiencing homelessness around the Vancouver area will be feeling the elements more than they have in recent weeks.

Homelessness Services Association of BC says additional spaces will be open at several shelters around the city to help people escape the cold.

Directions Youth Services Centre, Aboriginal Front Door, the Salvation Army Belkin House, the Nest, Covenant House, and Marpole Neighbourhood House EWR Shelter are all providing extra spaces from Dec. 22 to 25.

Judy Graves, a retired advocate for the homeless, says shelters can make a big difference for those who don’t have a place to live, helping them “to not be getting frostbitten feet and fingers, to let their clothing dry out so they’ve got a chance against the winter when they get outside.”

Holiday season a tough time for some unhoused British Columbians

Graves says this time of year can be pretty brutal for those who don’t have a place to call home, and with it being the giving season, she says it’s a great time to help someone experiencing homelessness, including bringing useful items to those who need them.

“Things that you can take right out to people, gloves, mittens, dry, clean socks,” she said. “Something that’s not often thought of is reading glasses that you buy from the dollar store; it can be quite a revelation to people to be able to see books again.”

CityNews spoke to Lynn Thompson, a person experiencing homelessness on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, about what it’s like over the holidays.

“It’s lonely, it’s hard,” she said. “You really evaluate where you’ve gone and what you’ve done. It’s a hard time, because I think Christmas, in the European world, is about loving and sharing family. Well, we’re very dispersed here.”

David Piggott says he calls the streets of East Hastings his home. He’s currently battling leukemia and has suffered severe brain damage, spending the last three years unhoused in Vancouver. He says while the holiday season feels like just any other time of the year for him, it does make him emotional.

“You see families walk by together and holding hands and you see everybody happy and families like…you see what you didn’t have, right? And never got the chance to have,” he said. “So, it hurts a little bit.”

But the community is rallying together to make sure everyone feels special — and seen — at this time of year. The Potluck Cafe Society has spent over twenty years providing nutritious food and providing hot chocolate in the winter to stay warm on the Downtown Eastside.

“This is a community that at times can be overlooked very easily,” said Naved Noorani, the society’s executive director. “You know, it’s not a pretty vista, but I can tell you no one aspires to be homeless or without food or without the things that we take for granted.”

With files from Emma Crawford