Local cities prepare shelter space as cold temperatures approach

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As we brace for the inevitable cold weather, cities across the Lower Mainland are preparing to house thousands of homeless people. Vancouver is nearly doubling the number of beds it started with last year.

Last year’s unusually cold weather prompted that city to eventually bump its number of beds from 190 to 300 and that’s how many it’s opening from the get-go this year.

Locations below will operate until March 2018, most will be open 24/7

• 1138 Burrard St.
• 828 Cambie St.
• 609 Helmcken St.
• 131 Dunlevy Ave.
• 119 E. Cordova St.
• 134 E. Cordova St.
• 134 E. Cordova St.
• 1648 E. 1st Ave.
• 1401 Hornby St.
• 1060 Howe St.

The city’s Director of Homelessness Services Ethel Whitty says many of the shelters will open on November 1st, rather than at the beginning of December.

She adds the first of 600 modular housing units are also expected to open in February which may also help. “We are really all hoping that maybe we won’t need this many shelter beds on an ongoing basis.”

All of the shelters are open to people and their pets and there will be storage for their belongings. The city says each location will also be overlooked by “an experienced non-profit housing and shelter operator,” with most locations providing 24/7 support.

“We want people experiencing homelessness to get the services they need. That’s why we are working with the city to make sure people in need not only have access to a warm bed, but also meals and health services to help them stabilize and transition into permanent housing,” says Housing Minister Selina Robinson. “Although this is a temporary solution, our government is working on a homelessness action plan that includes long-term strategies to tackle a crisis that has been ignored for too long.”

Elsewhere, Surrey is planning up to 30 more beds, to house 150 people after seeing a 50 per cent increase in homelessness in this year’s count. Surrey hasn’t finalized their plans yet or figured out exactly where all the shelters will go just yet.

Earlier this fall, new homelessness numbers were released showing 3,605 people identify as homeless in Metro Vancouver and 1,032 don’t have shelter at all. This year’s total is up more than 800 from a survey done in 2014, with Vancouver, Surrey, and Langley all seeing the biggest increases.

To give you more insight into how dire the homelessness problem may be, the UGM says many of those who lined up for a free Thanksgiving meal a couple of weeks ago were without stable shelter but were employed. Organizers of the meal blame the ongoing housing crisis for the uptick in people living on the streets.

On September 29th, Premier John Horgan announced funding for 1,000 new modular housing units in an attempt to tackle the growing issue.