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A welcome announcement for the homeless in the city
“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner
Op-Ed Commentary
At last, some good news on the homeless front!
BC Housing has issued a province-wide tender call for renovations to the former bingo hall at 209B – 16th Ave. to convert it to a homeless shelter for Cranbrook people who don’t have a regular place to sleep at night.
Tenders for contractors willing to take on this project will close Feb. 7 for the long-awaited plan aimed at reducing the number of homeless in the city without a place to sleep at night especially during the recent cold snap when temperatures plunged to more than 20 below C.
The shelter will be open to people of all genders and will be a year-round facility for the homeless, says Nancy Reid, Executive Director for the Community Connections Society of Southeast BC. Reid says the announcement will be a relief to the homeless community in Cranbrook.
“I’m looking forward to the day we can showcase the facility to the community because we’ve been waiting so long for this announcement in order to put fears to rest in the community.”
At the same time, Reid says she realizes the 40 beds the shelter will bring is not a solution to homelessness in the city but will go a long way to relieving current pressures on the homeless. “It’s a first step in dealing with the homeless continuum,” she says.
The last official survey of homelessness in Cranbrook took place two years ago and revealed at least 75 homeless in the city, Reid says. Today the number is closer to 100, she added. BC Housing, the agency that will pay for the upgrading costs, is aware of the numbers and solidly supports the project, she says.
Improvements to the 8,000-sq- ft. facility will include a new floor, new bathrooms, a new kitchen and dining area, new meeting space with a special room for elders and a quiet room. The facility, last used as a gym by Core Fitness, will be divided into two pods and dividers will be installed between the beds to provide some privacy for the users. Everything in the shelter will be brought up to Building Code Standards and the upgraded facility will also receive a new coat of paint, Reid says.
Most of the city’s homeless are currently housed in the former Travel Lodge Motel on Cranbrook Street, which has been a great help, according to Reid. “But we know the homeless are still facing challenges,” she says, adding many of the homeless are reduced to couch surfing or sleeping “rough” outside regardless of the weather.
Local businessman Terry Segarty, the owner of the building where the homeless will be housed, says he was pleased to hear the tender call announcement.
“Food and shelter is a basic human right right and essential for people to maintain their dignity,” he said, adding the project will go a long way in helping them to do this Segarty thanked BC Housing, who will pay for the improvements as well as Cranbrook city council for issuing the permit for the shelter to go ahead. “We want this shelter to be the best it can be so that it can help the homeless in making the transition to permanent shelter.”
Meanwhile Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt, who voted against the project when it was raised at a city council meeting last year, says he’s glad that the homeless will no longer have to risk sleeping outside in Arctic-like conditions. But Pratt argues that temporary shelters are not the answer to homelessness in Cranbrook, nor the rest of B.C. “This is just a band aid solution and will only move the homeless from the Travel Lodge to the downtown.”
Pratt says he and other mayors in the province believe BC Housing should be building permanent homes for the homeless with services to address their issues including drug abuse, alcoholism and mental health disfunction.
e-KNOW file photo
– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who appreciates nothing more than a warm place to sleep at night.
