(CFJC Today/File photo).

By Aaron Schulze

Gathering Place

Downtown day space for Kamloops’ homeless population operating again in 2022

Jan 25, 2022 | 4:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Gathering Place will be back in downtown Kamloops for 2022.

Kamloops council approved a short-term facility use permit for The Mustard Seed and Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society (KAFS) to provide a day space at 48 Victoria St. W for people experiencing homelessness.

KAFS and The Mustard Seed have been approved for funding through Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, a federal program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness, to operate The Gathering Place in 2022 and 2023.

The City of Kamloops says The Gathering Place is a culturally safe space for people experiencing homelessness to access supports during daytime hours. The Gathering Place will be open from noon to 8:00 p.m., seven days a week, between April 1 to Oct. 31, 2022. The space will operate after the temporary winter shelter at Stuart Wood gymnasium closes on March 31.

According to the City, The Gathering Place served 642 meals and had 2,792 visits in from Aug. 16 to Nov. 5, 2021. The Mustard Seed and KAFS plan to include increased activities, advocacy and navigation services, Indigenous cultural programming and traditional meals, and client involvement in supporting site management in 2022.

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The City’s Reaching Home Point-in-Time Count conducted on April 15 and 16, 2021 identified 206 individuals as experiencing homelessness in Kamloops, with nearly 50 per cent of respondents self-identified as Indigenous. Of clients who attended The Gathering Place in 2021, 44 per cent identified as Indigenous.