The City, community partner agencies, Kamloops Fire Rescue, Interior Health, and the RCMP work together in partnership and collaboration during extreme weather to provide services and supports for unhoused individuals.
Shelter Beds and Warming Spaces
The shelter system in Kamloops currently provides approximately 190 year-round beds for individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition, urgent response beds at the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter, the Interior Community Services youth shelter, and in complex care housing offer clinical supports for unhoused individuals with complex mental health and/or substance use issues.
During the winter months, additional temporary winter and extreme weather response shelter beds are activated to support the increased need for indoor shelter.
In July 2023, Council authorized a temporary lease with BC Housing to once again allow a temporary winter shelter at the Yacht Club. The 20-bed, 24/7 winter shelter opened on November 1, 2023, and is operated by The Mustard Seed.
When extreme weather hits, the shelter system responds and expands to provide additional warming spaces in existing shelter sites. Shelters and social housing sites increase their capacity by placing additional mats or cots in open areas to provide warming spaces with the intent that no one seeking shelter is turned away during these extreme events.
During these cold-weather events, the City can access extreme weather response funds through the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness and provide these funds to non-profit operators to support daytime warming spaces.
On the North Shore, the Kamloops Alliance Church partnered with The Mustard Seed again this winter to establish an extreme weather response shelter. This 30-bed shelter opens when the temperature reaches -10°C or lower (with or without wind chill) and/or when inclement weather is indicated.
Outreach and Coordination of Resources
When extreme cold events are forecasted, City staff convene the Cold Weather Response Table, which includes shelter and social housing operators, outreach teams, Community Services Officers, Interior Health, Kamloops Fire Rescue, and the RCMP. This table ensures that front-line community resources that provide services and supports to unhoused individuals are working in coordination to provide access to warming spaces, shelters, winter supplies, and other social and health services. Through the table, City staff also circulate resource information sheets, including contact details and intake times for all shelters and warming spaces.
Some of the key local efforts and resources that work in coordination to support unhoused individuals during extreme weather events include:
Envision Outreach Shuttle:
Operated by Canadian Mental Health Association - Kamloops, this program provides outreach, connection to services, and transportation to shelters and warming spaces. Program staff also provide unhoused individuals with light meals, water, harm reduction supplies, and winter supplies. While this program operates year-round, the Reaching Home Community Advisory Board approved funding from the federal Reaching Home program prior to the onset of winter to support extended hours and staffing during extreme cold.
Community Services Officer Outreach Response Program:
This City-funded program pairs Community Services Officers with outreach workers from Canadian Mental Health Association - Kamloops and ASK Wellness to provide outreach coverage 16 hours per day, seven days per week. The purpose of this program is to establish and build relationships with unhoused individuals and to provide them with connections to shelter and support services. This program works in coordination with the Envision Outreach Shuttle and other outreach and front-line teams to provide services and supports to unhoused individuals in the community.
Winter Supplies:
The Reaching Home Community Advisory Board also approved federal Reaching Home program funds to be used to purchase winter supplies for unhoused individuals, including hats, gloves, warm socks, handwarmers, and emergency blankets. These winter supplies were purchased by City staff and provided to outreach workers, shelter operators, Kamloops Fire Rescue, Community Services Officers, and other front-line staff who provide them to unhoused individuals throughout the winter months.
Expression of Gratitude
The City would like to extend its gratitude and appreciation to our community partner agencies for consistently rising to the challenge to support the most vulnerable people in our community. This commitment to the community is felt year-round. The service, support, and tireless efforts provided by the staff teams at these agencies do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Advocacy
Despite these coordinated and collaborative efforts, our community continues to face multiple social crises, including, but not limited to, those related to housing affordability, the toxic drug supply, food insecurity, and an increasing scale of homelessness. The City, Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, and community partner agencies continue to advocate jointly and individually to the Province for additional housing, health, and social services and supports for unhoused and vulnerable individuals and families.
Information
For information on shelters, social housing, and efforts by the City and its partner agencies to address homelessness, visit Kamloops.ca/Housing.
For information on efforts by the City and its community partners to support a safe and secure community, visit LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca/SafeSecure.
