By Chad Klassen

Shelter beds available at Emerald Centre, expected to be occupied with cold temperatures

Dec 4, 2018 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — With the mercury expected to drop in the next couple days in Kamloops, living outside will become that much more unbearable for people on the streets.

The temperatures will dip sharply, beginning at minus seven overnight Tuesday before a real deep freeze from Wednesday to Friday night with double digit temperatures below zero. The chilly conditions may have more people on the Kamloops streets looking for a warm place to stay.  

“It always happens when it gets cold, and colder as we get further into the winter,” said executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association in Kamloops, Christa Mullaly. “Oftentimes, though, we see if it’s still dry out like it is today, then if folks have camps set up or are staying with someone outside, then folks will typically stay outside during this weather.”

No snow is forecast by Environment Canada, at least within the City of Kamloops. But the Emerald Centre is ready for more people to be knocking on its door for shelter. There are six beds available going into the night, three on each the men and women’s side. CMHA expects the beds to be snatched up quickly. 

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“Yeah, we had folks shows up this morning actually that had gone to Mustard Seed New Life Community for breakfast, had come right over to see if we had any beds available,” noted Mullaly. 

Mustard Seed New Life Community is prepared for the cold weather with clothing, jackets and blankets available for whoever needs him. 

It’s also open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day with lunch served. New Life is keeping track of people coming through and helping to keep other agencies aware of their shelter needs.

“We’re tracking meals, different clients that come and go, especially the ones we have ongoing relationships with, what kind of advocacy we’ve done,” said managing director of Mustard Seed New Life Community Diane Down. “How many referrals we’ve done to other agencies for other services. In this case particularly, we’re tracking, as folks leave at the end of the night, are they housed for that night?”

The answer is likely ‘no.’ While the summer’s national homeless count revealed close to 200 are without a permanent shelter, the Canadian Mental Health Association believes it’s more than double that number. 

Mullaly says on the day 24 people moved out of the Emerald Centre and into the Mission Flats Manor, those beds were filled up right away. 

“These have been brand-new people to us that haven’t been VATed (Vulnerable Assessment Tested) yet,” said Mullaly. “So prior to us moving our clients out to Mission Flats, we had 100 per cent of clients at Emerald Centre that had undergone a vulnerability assessment. As of that Tuesday, when we had 24 more, it’s really flipped for us where the minority of our folks have vulnerability assessments completed.”