Winter shelter to close soon after serving nearly 300 people

Mar 13, 2018 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been used as a winter shelter for the last six months, but in the two weeks the former Stuart Wood Elementary School will once again be empty. The city has confirmed that funding for the winter shelter stops at the end of the month and it will close down. 

“The funding from BC Housing ends on March 31 and without the funding, you don’t have the support services or wraparound services,” said Kamloops mayor Ken Christian. “You simply have mats on the floor. That’s not a good situation, and so I wouldn’t recommend it stay open beyond the 31st of March.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, which runs the shelter, there have been 297 different individuals who have used the facility this winter. Mayor christian said, though, the numbers are going down as the weather warms.