Shelter beds at the former Branch site on Royal Avenue haven't been filling up as fast as anticipated (Image Credit: CFJC Today)
HOMELESS SHELTERS

Federal funding decreases demand for shelter beds in Kamloops during pandemic

Jun 17, 2020 | 11:01 AM

KAMLOOPS — When the city announced in April it would be reopening an extra shelter space for the homeless, it was expected to fill up fast.

Opening the former Branch on Royal Avenue was meant as a space for homeless people to better isolate during COVID-19. But that hasn’t been the case in Kamloops.

“I’m actually quite surprised because with many of our clients, when they get that extra money, they’re not so quick to spend it,” noted acting executive director of CMHA Kamloops Alfred Achoba. “They try to use as many services as they can, so I’m surprised there’s no huge uptick for shelter.”

When COVID-19 hit Kamloops, community organizations like The Mustard Seed and the Canadian Mental Health Association were forced to reduce the number of beds available at their respective shelters. The Mustard Seed went from 30 beds to 19, while The Emerald Centre, run by CMHA, reduced capacity from 55 to 40 beds.

However, all three spaces have yet to hit capacity during the global pandemic. Achoba says there are a couple of factors contributing to lower demand at the shelters, including the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) that clients are accessing.

“The Liberal government has been really helpful with the response. We’ve seen that many clients have access to CERB benefits and are deciding to find alternative means of shelter for themselves,” said Achoba. “So we’ve seen people go into motels, we’ve seen people hang out with friends, and we’ve seen people relocate out of town with that extra money they have.”

The less-than-expected demand has meant Memorial Arena, which was set up with 50 beds to serve as an overflow space, has not been needed.

“It’s a bit curious. We were expecting more shelter usages because of the river rising and also more usage of our COVID suites,” said city housing and homelessness manager Ty Helgason. “We kind of thought COVID would be more widespread through this vulnerable population, but we’re really not seeing the high levels of the vulnerable population in our community right now.”

The extra shelters like on Royal Avenue and at Memorial Arena, however, will remain in place until at least the fall.

“A lot of our COVID response for this vulnerable population has been in partnership with BC Housing and they’ve just extended their funding until the end of September, so we’re secure with these options until then,” noted Helgason.

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