New temporary winter shelter sparks debate at council

The former Gateway Shelter located at 2800 33 Street will be providing temporary beds for 20 homeless residents in just a matter of days.

Vernon city council voted to confirm their support for the BC Housing initiative at Monday’s meeting.

According to letter to council, BC Housing recently worked with Turning Points Collaborative Society to relocate the Gateway Shelter to its new location at 2804 33 Street. The move to the new location allowed Gateway to increase the number of shelter beds from 24 to 40.

Since the relocation, the former shelter site, which is owned by BC Housing, has sat vacant; but starting Nov. 1 the shelter will be available 24/7 providing the 20 beds and food services. The temporary initiative will be carried out by Turning Points Collaborative and will end March 31, 2020.

The additional spaces came after Mayor Victor Cumming addressed a letter to BC Housing on Oct. 21, noting the need for more shelter spaces in the community.

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“I was contacted and told that the shelters we have now are currently turning people away,” said Cumming.

But word of a temporary winter shelter irked some members of council, who wondered why the bulk of the services for the street entrenched are located in a certain region of the downtown core.

Some members of council even questioned if the level of services are encouraging more people to migrate to the city.

“We tell everyone in the neighborhood that everything is temporary and don’t worry as soon as we build this infrastructure everything is going to go back to normal, and then we just keep loading on into that neighborhood. And every time we add 20 more beds, 40 more people come,” said Coun. Brian Quiring.

“We’re not fair to those business owners in that area. We are just not. Why are we consolidating everything in that one area? We’ve got the mission, we’ve got People Place, We’ve got Linear Park, everything is all in one couple of square blocks. I’m all in favor of another 20 beds, start moving them out, it’s a bit of a mob mentality there,” said Quiring.

Kelly Fisher, part-owner of Fishers Hardware, told Vernon Matters that his business has witnessed its share of challenges being adjacent to the Gateway Shelter.

“Every morning we are dealing with messes in the front here, wrapped up foil paper, needles , cigarette butts and whatever else. They go to the bathroom behind our waste cans and yeah its definitely a major problem,” Fisher said.

In response, CAO Will Pearce told council that the city is working to provide services outside of the downtown core, they just need to find the appropriate land.

Meanwhile Coun. Scott Anderson agreed with Quiring’s points and stated his concerns about the city’s direction towards tackling the current crisis.

“It’s becoming clear to me at least that what we are doing is attracting folks — not homeless people, not poor people, and I hate the misuse of those terms to describe them, but people who are prone to cause trouble, who have no intention of changing their circumstance, who intend to live on the street, or wherever the services are better,” Anderson said.

“We seem to be catering to BC Housing and becoming an experimental ground for BC Housing,” he stated.

After Anderson spoke, Councillor Akbal Mund said that while he understands the councillor’s concerns, it’s important to note the challenges winter brings for those on the streets — and the resources available to mitigate the possible issues.

“This is needed because we don’t have any place to put the people, so they will be camping out in certain areas of our community, which is also going to be a large impact on residents and businesses rather than in the building itself. With the downtown enforcement unit and the way bylaw has been operating, especially in the last six months, I’m sure they’ll have their pulse on what’s going on around the shelter,” Mund said.

“I think this is important for the community. You don’t want to leave someone out in -10 degree weather with no place to go,” Mund added.

The annual homeless count was completed on Oct. 16 and while an official report is expected to be released in November, CAO Will Pearce said there are approximately 160 people classified as homeless in the city — but that does not necessarily mean they are on the street.

“The additional proposed 20 emergency beds will help accommodate some of those folks that are without shelter right now,” Pearce said, noting the two most recent housing projects, My Place and Our Place, provided shelter to a significant amount of people in need of homes.

But the addition of the new beds, according the city, means that the mat program — another program that provides temporary beds during the cold winter months — will no longer exist.

“There is no mat program this year. B.C housing has been very clear they are not supporting a mat program,” confirmed Pearce.

Following the revelation from the city about the end of the mat program, Councillor Quiring hesitantly stated that he would be voting in support of the initiative.

“Since the mat program was withdrawn and we have 20 beds, I will support this motion, not happily, but I will support this motion.”

Quiring’s vote in support was not followed by Coun. Anderson or Dalvir Nahal who voted against the initiative.