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Castlegar's temporary winter shelter will reopen

BC Housing funding confirmed
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Castlegar and District Community Services Society will operate the Out of the Cold Emergency Winter Shelter again next season.

With a new permanent shelter confirmed to open in Castlegar in 2025, the temporary winter shelter in Castlegar will open one more season.

Reidun Rosi, executive director of the Castlegar & District Community Services Society (CDCSS), has confirmed the CDCSS will plan to operate the Out of the Cold Emergency Winter Shelter for the 2024-2025 season, with funding confirmed from BC Housing — despite an April announcement that the province would not renew funding for temporary winter shelters after the April 2024 closures.

"BC Housing understands the urgent need for shelter spaces in Castlegar, especially during the winter months," BC Housing told Castlegar News. "This is why BC Housing will work with its partners to reopen the temporary shelter on 1660 Columbia Ave. to ensure people have a warm place to stay the coming winter season."

The CDCSS may or may not be involved with operating the permanent shelter, as the city will release a request for proposals to find an operator for the site. Rosi confirmed that the CDCSS will likely submit a proposal.

BC Housing also extended funding for CDCSS's street outreach program until Nov. 30, 2024. The program includes three staff members who are available six hours a day, five days a week from Wednesday to Sunday. 

"The team provides basic needs to the unhoused population," says Rosi.

This includes providing water on hot days, handing out beverages and snacks, and offering basic case management.

Practicum nursing students from Selkirk College are also able to provide some basic medical care.

Council votes to maintain temporary use permit

The temporary winter shelter will continue to operate out of 1660 Columbia Ave. as Castlegar City Council voted to maintain the shelter's temporary use permit for a third year at its May 21 meeting.

The permit, first granted in 2022, was for three years but requires that city staff report back to council after each winter season to report "whether the Good Neighbour Agreement and operations have been effective." At that point, council can vote to maintain, revise, or revoke the permit.

Meeri Durand, manager of planning, development and sustainability for the city, presented the report for Out of the Cold's 2023-2024 season to council. While she acknowledged there were some initial "hiccups" with the permit process, Durand reported that overall things went well during the last season.

“I did want to just express how amazing of a job CDCSS has done this last operational period," she said. "That’s not to dismiss that neighbours have brought up concerns, but I think that the frameworks that were put in place this year by Reidun [Rosi], the executive director, and Deb [McIntosh], the manager of the facility this year, was absolutely a complete change from those initial hiccups.”  

Durand added that some neighbours expressed concerns with the site continuing to be used as a temporary shelter, but she assured them that in the event that a suitable site for a permanent shelter couldn't be found in time for the next cold season, the city will have discussions with them so that they can help determine what that operational period will look like.

Councillor Brian Bogle commented that it was nice to be able to stop by the shelter and feel welcome, and thanked the delegation from the CDCSS for all the work that they’ve done. Mayor Maria McFaddin echoed those sentiments.

Update from CDCSS staff

Rosi and McIntosh both spoke later in the meeting, giving their own updates.

McIntosh reported that Out of the Cold had 26 intakes last season: 19 men and seven women. There were also 62 turnaways.

“Some of those turnaways are like one person came five times, but there were turnaways and that’s always very hard to tell somebody that they can not sleep indoors,” McIntosh said.

She also reported that there were no in-house drug poisonings this year, though one person (not a resident) was in distress across the street. Staff responded and saved the individual with eight shots and CPR.

There were two non-emergency ambulance calls to the shelter, no RCMP visits, and the only visit from the Castlegar Fire Department was to check for compliance.

The shelter staff did receive complaints from businesses about fires, loitering, encampments, and a suspected drug poisoning.

“We deal with those as fast as we can, and we always tell the public that we are only responsible for so much,” said McIntosh. "We can’t control what people do outside of the property, although we will go and attend and make sure people are safe. A lot of these things are policing issues, not shelter issues.”

People also called the shelter about suspected overdoses.

“Please don’t call us," said McIntosh. "Call the ambulance. If you are worried about someone, just make the call."

Echoing some of Durand's comments earlier in the meeting, McIntosh said there were some complaints from neighbours behind the shelter about nighttime noise, but shelter staff took steps to mitigate that.

McIntosh also reported that there has been great support from the community, including Stanley Humphries Secondary School students and Selkirk College nursing students.

Rosi thanked McIntosh for her work and confirmed rumours that the CDCSS head office is moving to 1695 Columbia Ave.