BC Housing is working to find a new shelter space in Kamloops, with the lease expiring tomorrow at the Kamloops Curling Club, and it appears some residents may not have a new place to stay.
The curling club shelter had been open since January, with 40 beds. It has been operated by the Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
CMHA Kamloops branch executive director Alfred Achoba says, next door, the shelter at Memorial Arena was expanded yesterday from 30 to 50 beds, to help make up some of the shortfall.
“The (City of Kamloops_ and BC Housing have been really helpful around what we’re seeing, and how to meet that demand. And other agencies too are stepping up; we have ASK Wellness, we have the Outreach Team, the Friendship Centre… So the hope is we can reach everyone who wants shelter,” he says.
“We would hate to turn anyone away because of closing another shelter or lack of shelter beds.”
Achoba says the beds at the curling club have been 95 per cent full during July, meaning 38 out of 40 beds have regularly been in use. He adds the 30 beds at Memorial Arena have been full during the summer; that rink has been used as a shelter since May of 2020.
“If we were to lose our 40 beds at the curling club, that would mean we’re displacing 40 people back into homelessness. And we already have a crisis in our community… That’s usually for the city and BC Housing to figure out a lease, and figure out a new location.”
Achoba adds two new day use spaces will be open for street-affected residents between August and November: with The Gathering Place at 48 West Victoria Street, and Envision at 346 Campbell Avenue. Those spaces will be jointly run by the city, CMHA, ASK Wellness, Interior Community Services and the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society.
The Kamloops Curling Club, meanwhile, plans to do maintenance at the curling club through August and prepare the rinks for usage by mid September. No curling events have happened since March of 2020, before the rink was closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.