Upper Room Mission To Extend Hours

Vernon’s Upper Room Mission will once again have extended summer hours thanks to a Canada Summer Jobs grant.

Co-Executive Director Lisa Anderson says two summer students have been hired to work in the Mission’s outreach department.

They will work alongside staff to deliver services and programs.

Starting Monday, June 12th, the Mission will be open from 9am to 8pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 6pm every Friday.

Currently Vernon does not have a drop-in centre that is accessible in the evenings.

Breakfast and lunch will continued to be served at 9 am and noon.

The supper service hours will change beginning Monday to 4:45pm to 5:30 pm in hopes that the new time will allow more people to access the meal service.

Anderson says “We understand that many people work until 4:30/5pm, so being able to offer this new mealtime during the summer months will hopefully be a benefit to those working minimum wage jobs and struggling with food insecurity.”

Anderson says with the extended hours, the Mission will be running a variety of new evening programs and will host different theme nights, such as bingo night, feature film nights – complete with popcorn and other snacks, and much more.

In 2016, the Upper Room Mission’s Food Security Program served more than 90,000 hot meals as well as provided assistance and support to many Vernon and surrounding area residents.

The Mission’s food services are one of a kind in Vernon due to the fact that all services offered are free of charge, and people do not need to register to access food or any other service.

The Mission is averaging 350-375 meals per day.

More people are accessing the Mission than ever before, and those numbers are projected to continue to rise.

It is seeing a continual increase in the number of families, children, and seniors using the services.