By Ian Holmes

Not much interest in new emergency youth shelter in Nanaimo

Jan 17, 2017 | 2:19 PM

NANAIMO — The future of an overnight emergency shelter for teenagers in Nanaimo is already in doubt, just one month after opening its doors.

The Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre, the shelter’s operator, reports that only one person has sporadically used their Haliburton St. shelter several times since it opened on Dec. 16.

Tillicum Lelum’s Courtney Defriend says an operating agreement with the city of Nanaimo indicates that the service would not be offered if it’s not well used.

“If we did just see this one individual accessing throughout the next two months perhaps we should look at a different way to spend this money,” said Defriend.

Nanaimo city council agreed to set aside $75,000 in December to open an emergency youth shelter, after a delegation brought forward concerns at a public meeting. A subsequent city staff report indicated that 10 to 15 youth could be sleeping outside. That report also indicated that the only other emergency shelter for youth on Tenth St. is often full.

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Defriend says other arrangements would be made to accommodate the teen using the shelter.

“We would absolutely make sure that this person has somewhere to go, however, we would not keep the shelter open, or have discussions with the city about if we should or not.”

Bruce Anderson, manager of community and cultural planning for the city, says there are three main options for the one-month old service.

“The shelter closes until we get a cold weather snap, the other option is ensuring the individual who’s using the facility has an appropriate place to go, and the other is to keep it open for the rest of the season and evaluate for next year,” said Anderson.

He notes there are no imminent plans to close the shelter. Anderson says a meeting is planned shortly with Tillicum Lelum officials to chart the best course forward.

While there is very little interest in the shelter at the present time, Defriend expects a minor influx shortly. She says safety nets that benefit youth who don’t have reliable housing start disappearing after the Christmas holiday season.

“Things are starting to get back to normal, we’re starting to feel the heat from money overspent on the holidays…I think families are less inclined to share with, for example, youth coming off the street.”