By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo winter shelters already preparing for rough year

Sep 19, 2017 | 12:14 PM

NANAIMO — Winter is still several months away but Nanaimo shelters are already getting ready for a tough year.

Unitarian Shelter executive director Lois Peterson presented to Council’s finance and audit committee on Sept. 14, requesting $45,000 from the City of Nanaimo to help keep their shelter open full-time during the winter. The committee recommended the request be forwarded to council, where it’s expected to pass.

Peterson explained to NanaimoNewsNOW their shelter, in the basement of the Unitarian Church on Townsite. Rd, is funded by the province on nights deemed to be “extreme weather.” The City funds nights which are still cold but not considered extreme.

“It makes it easier for everybody, they know we’re going to be open every night from November to March,” Peterson said.

Peterson said this is one of the first steps towards getting ready for the upcoming winter. Though it’s unclear how rough the weather will be, Peterson said they’ll still face many other considerable challenges, such as over-capacity issues.

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“We don’t like to turn away people, but if we’re full we have to. We’re not going to be able to expand much more than we are now, unless we had major renovations.”

Last year, even with expanding to 30 beds, the shelter was at capacity nearly every night.

The Salvation Army’s New Hope Centre, which has 23 emergency shelter beds, turned away 214 people in December towards the Unitarian Shelter.

Dawne Anderson, fundraising and promotions coordinator for Nanaimo, said while the shelter would love to be able to change some of their programs and better prepare for the winter, they battle capacity issues every night and don’t have the time or resources to expand or better prepare.

“It certainly makes us think of what we can do to make a bigger and better place, but that’s only in internal talks, nothing out in the public at this time.”

Last winter was the first time the City tried a youth shelter, which housed up to 10. Tillicum Lelum, who operated the shelter on Haliburton St., said instead of the shelter they were focusing on pro-active solutions to help keep youth off the streets.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit