As cold weather persists in Burnaby, city council has approved increasing the hours of a temporary winter shelter in Royal Oak.
The shelter, which was initially approved in November for 16 hours per day at 7320 Buller Ave., will now be open 24-7, seven days a week.
New money from the province will fund the added eight-hour shift and provide an additional daytime meal until April 30 when the shelter’s licence ends, according to a staff report presented to council Jan. 15.
The longer hours will “provide improvements for individuals to stay warm, dry, fed, and connected to a range of health and homelessness services,” said the report.
The shelter has been operating 24-7 since Jan. 12 on an interim basis due to the extreme cold weather conditions, with funding provided by BC Housing, according to the report.
The city-operated extreme weather warming centre next-door on the west side of the Buller Avenue facility is also available, subject to extreme weather conditions.
The report notes there are still no shower or laundry facilities available for people to access on-site at 7320 Buller Ave.
This issue was previously raised by operator Progressive Housing as a service that should be available in a 24-7 facility, said the report.
The city’s general manager of public safety Dave Critchley said staff are exploring shower options, including portable showers inside the facility, with Progressive and BC Housing.
“The goal is to try and explore what we can do to arrange for shower facilities,” he said at the Jan. 15 council meeting.
Critchley noted people seeking shelter are now being directed to the emergency warming shelter since the shelter is at capacity.
“So no one is being left out in the cold that you’re aware of, who is seeking shelter?” asked Coun. Daniel Tetrault.
“That is correct,” Critchley replied.
He said the shelter, which has a 40-person occupancy, has been at capacity since Jan. 12.
Coun. Maita Santiago, chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Unsheltered Community Members, also supported expanding the shelter’s hours.
“There were real concerns heard about the situation of the unhoused in our community,” Santiago said.
“As we move on to other years, hopefully we’re able as a city to come up with more long-term solutions,” she said, adding there will be more recommendations coming from the mayor’s task force.
The task force began in June and planned to bring a report to council within six months.
Mayor Mike Hurley supported the 24-7 schedule but said there will be no extensions granted to BC Housing to extend the life of the shelter beyond its set closing date of April 30 this year.
“Given our recent experiences with BC Housing at our other site, and (they) keep on asking for extensions, keep on asking for extensions. … There’s going to be no extensions granted for this,” he said.
Hurley told the Burnaby NOW after the meeting it won’t be possible to extend the shelter past April because the city has other needs for those buildings.
According to the November staff report on the shelter, the property is designated for future park and mixed-use development in the under-review Royal Oak community plan.
For additional homelessness supports in Burnaby, see the city's website.
