As cooler weather moves in throughout the province, communities have almost 1,000 extreme weather shelter beds ready to be activated if conditions threaten the health and safety of homeless individuals.
The additional spaces are available from now until March 31, 2017, when a community issues an extreme weather alert. Communities decide what weather conditions warrant an alert and how many spaces to activate on a given night, depending on the capacity of existing shelters and the estimated need.
The B.C. government will provide approximately $1.6 million to fund the extreme weather response shelter spaces this winter. These spaces supplement the almost 2,000 permanent, year-round shelter spaces available in B.C. Most permanent shelter beds are available 24/7 and provide three meals a day.
The Province also funds outreach teams to help connect people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, with housing and support services such as income assistance and mental-health and addictions services.
Learn More:
To see a map of extreme weather response and permanent shelters in B.C., please visit: http://www.bchousing.org/Options/Emergency_Housing/Map
To receive notifications on when communities are issuing extreme weather alerts, please follow BC Housing on Twitter: @BC_Housing
A backgrounder follows.
Backgrounders
The Extreme Weather Response program enables communities to temporarily increase emergency shelter capacity during extreme weather conditions. Communities determine when to issue an extreme weather alert and how many spaces to make available on a given night.
The following locations will offer temporary shelter space when an extreme weather alert is activated:
100 Mile House
- 99 Mile Motel, 555B South Cedar Ave. – 10 spaces
Abbotsford
- Cyrus Centre, 2616 Ware St. – 10 spaces, for youth only
- Centre of Hope, 34081 Gladys Ave. – 20 spaces
Burnaby
- Burnaby Extreme Weather Shelter, 7540 6th St. – 27 spaces
- Burnaby Extreme Weather Shelter (overflow site), 8611 Armstrong Rd. – 20 spaces
Chilliwack
- Ruth and Naomi's Centre, 46130 Margaret Ave. – 16 spaces
- Brigadier Arthur Cartmell House, 45746 Yale Rd. – 5 spaces
- Cyrus Centre Chilliwack, 45845 Wellington Ave. – 12 spaces
Coquitlam
- 3030 Gordon Ave.– 30 spaces
Courtenay
- Pidcock, 632 Pidcock Ave. – 15 spaces
Cranbrook
- Salvation Army – Cranbrook, 533 Slater Rd. – 24 spaces
Duncan
- Warmland House, 2579 Lewis St. – 15 spaces
Fort St John
- Fort St John Care & Share Centre, 9824 99 Ave. – 28 spaces
Grand Forks
- BETHS, 7212 Riverside Dr. – 7 spaces
Hope
- Thunderbird Extreme Weather Shelter, 63030 Flood Hope Rd. – 5 spaces
Kamloops
- Emerald Centre, 271 W. Victoria St. – 40 spaces
Kitimat
- Kitimat, 480 City Centre – 4 spaces
Ladysmith
- Ladysmith Homeless Aid, 1149 4th Ave. – 10 spaces
Langley
- Gateway of Hope, 5787 Langley Bypass – 10 spaces
Maple Ridge
- The Salvation Army Caring Place, 22188 Lougheed Hwy. – 15 spaces
Merritt
- Nicola Valley Extreme Weather Response Shelter, 2038 Nicola Ave. – 10 spaces
Mission
- Haven in the Hollow, 32646 Logan Ave. – 15 spaces
Nanaimo
- Unitarian Extreme Weather Shelter, 595 Townsite Rd. – 24 spaces
New Westminster
- New West Extreme Weather Shelter, 606 Clarkson St. – 30 spaces
- E Fry New West, 402 East Columbia St. – 5 spaces, for women only
North Vancouver
- North Shore Extreme Weather Shelter, 705 West 2nd St. – 20 spaces
- North Shore Extreme Weather Shelter (overflow site), 225 East 2nd St. – 20 spaces
Parksville
- Oceanside Taskforce on Homelessness, 233 Mills St. – 8 spaces
Penticton
- Compass House, 123 Nanaimo Avenue East – 8 spaces (+ 18 overflow spaces)
Port Alberni
- Port Alberni Shelter, 3978 8th Ave. – 15 spaces
Port Hardy
- Lighthouse Resource Centre - Out of the Cold, 8635 Granville St. – 12 spaces
Prince George
- ASAP Bridget Moran, 1188 6th Ave. – 10 spaces
- AWAC Women's Shelter, 144 George St. – 10 spaces, for women only
- Ketso Yoh, 140 Quebec St. – 10 spaces, for men only
Quesnel
- Seasons House, 146 Carson Ave. – 10 spaces
Richmond
- Richmond House, 3111 Shell Rd. – 3 spaces (+3 overflow spaces), men only
- Richmond Extreme Weather Shelter, 7260 St. Alban's Rd. – 20 spaces
Saanich
- Victoria Native Friendship Centre, 231 Regina Ave. – 25 spaces
Salmon Arm
- Lighthouse Inn from the Cold, 441 3rd St. SW – 12 spaces
Smithers
- Broadway Place, 3827 Broadway Ave. – 2 spaces
Squamish
- Extreme Weather Emergency Shelter at the Fire House, 37930 Third Ave. – 15 spaces
Surrey
- Cloverdale Surrey, 5337 180 St. – 15 spaces
- Surrey Urban Mission, 10776 King George Blvd. – 20 spaces
- Hyland Newton, 6595 King George Blvd. – 10 spaces
Terrace
- Ksan Lakelse Ave, 4444 Lakelse Ave. – 20 spaces
- Ksan Residence & Shelter, 2812 Hall St. – 3 spaces
Trail
- La Nina EWR Shelter of Greater Trail, 1458 Bay Ave. – 6 spaces
Vancouver
- Directions Youth Resource Centre, 1138 Burrard St. – 15 spaces, youth only
- Men's Hostel, 828 Cambie St. – 24 spaces, men only
- First Baptist Church, 969 Burrard St. – 25 spaces
- Gathering Place, 609 Helmcken St. – 40 spaces
- Belkin House, 555 Homer St. – 20 spaces
- St. Mark's Extreme Weather Shelter, 1805 Larch St. – 25 spaces
- Tenth Ave Church, 11 West 10th Ave. – 25 spaces
- Harbour Light (overflow site), 119 E Cordova St. – 40 spaces
- Evelyne Saller Centre (overflow site), 320 Alexander St. – 40 spaces
Victoria
- Our Place Society, 919 Pandora Ave. – 30 spaces (+20 overflow spaces)
- Addictions & Rehabilitation Centre, 612 David St. – 30 spaces
White Rock
- First United White Rock, 15385 Semiahmoo Ave. – 15 spaces
https://news.gov.bc.ca/13082