Nanaimo’s extreme weather shelter to open year-round
NANAIMO — Those experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo will now have more options for a safe nights rest this summer.
BC Housing confirmed to NanaimoNewsNOW they’re providing roughly $400,000 to keep the doors at the Unitarian Shelter on Townsite Rd. open for another year. The extreme weather shelter was scheduled to close at the end of March once the winter season was over.
Shelter coordinator Kevan Griffith said offering 30 beds every day from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. creates much needed continuity for those in dire straits.
“They’re not nervous, they’re not scared so some of their defences come down,” Griffith told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Once their defences come down, anything can happen.”