As the temperature falls and with no emergency winter shelter in place, The Loop in Kamloops has opened its doors to people in need.

Operator Glenn Hilke confirmed to Radio NL that he had begun circulating fliers throughout the homeless population in Kamloops, offering them a place to stay.

This, despite the city declaring The Loop a nuisance property last year – subsequently deeming it unfit to run as a shelter.

Hilke said he hopes he doesn’t see any repercussions from the city, saying it would “reflect poorly on their character.”

“If they just break it down and think ‘what if this was me?” he said. “How would I feel about having to sleep outside in the wet slushy snow in sub zero temperatures?”

“The more we leave people out in the elements to fight for their survival, their mental health, their physical health is not going to get any better. They’ll wind up in the ER, our hospital is already overwhelmed. Why would we want to aggravate that situation even more?”

The move by Hilke comes as two cold-weather shelters at Stuart Wood Elementary and the Kamloops Yacht Club – which were due to open on Nov. 1 – remain closed after the Canadian Mental Health withdrew its offer to run them late last month.

The City of Kamloops says while those facilities are ready to use, the search is on for an operator.

NL News was told that BC Housing was expected to announce a new operator for the two shelters, though the provincial agency says there are no announcements planned for this week.