As a blast of freezing winter weather hits Vancouver, homeless shelters are filling up, and some of the city’s most vulnerable are being left out in the cold.
All four of they city’s emergency winter shelters are full to capacity, the City of Vancouver said Wednesday.
“The fact that these shelters immediately filled to capacity reminds us that they are an extremely necessary service,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a release.
The four shelters, located in areas most frequented by homeless people, provide warm places to sleep and hot meals for 160 people.
They also allow residents to bring pets and shopping carts inside, and a range of health services and outreach workers are available.
“These shelters are critical for making sure people are safe this winter and are connected with services that can help them into new homes,” said Robertson.
“They are not a permanent solution, but the shelters can be the first step for getting people off the street and into a warm, safe place to sleep.”
But some residents are unhappy the shelters were put in their neighbourhood.
Last month, a group of Yaletown residents complained about a shelter going up in the 1200-block of Seymour Street, saying the city didn’t consult with them beforehand.
“It strikes me as a bad idea to introduce a population like that into a space for children,” said mother-of-two Susan Marty in November, adding that she didn’t want dirty needles and drug dealers in her neighbourhood.
But the City of Vancouver said it’s vital that the shelters be placed in areas that have the largest homeless populations based on the city’s annual homeless count.
“We know from experience that homeless people won’t travel across town for a shelter, so we need to put the shelters where they live,” added Robertson.
But with these four emergency shelters filled to capacity, homeless people are being turned away and told to try extreme weather shelters, community halls and churches.
Those shelters, however, are also either at capacity or nearing it, CTV News has learned.
Robertson is urging Vancouver residents to make a charitable donation to the shelters, adding that all fire halls accept non-perishable food items and new unwrapped toys.
Urgently needed items such as socks, shoes, gloves, razors, towels, new underwear and blankets can be donated directly to shelters.
According to the city, winter shelters are key factors in moving homeless people into permanent housing.
“It’s great to see people coming inside, some for the first time in years, where we can build respectful relationships with individuals that haven’t been able to access services because of stigmas or service barriers,” said Sean Spear, associate director of RainCity Housing, who runs the shelters.
Last year, 40 people moved from shelters into homes.
For a full list of shelters in B.C. visit BC Housing’s emergency housing web page.