Kelowna

A Kelowna woman is asking the community to see beyond the colour red.

Susan Douglas is trying to open a 'contact centre' outside Kelowna's red-zone. The red-zone is a no-go zone for people who have worn out their welcome with the RCMP and the court system.

Douglas, a former addict and now a community health care worker, has created a non-profit society called Dare to Care.

She says people who have been banned from Kelowna's red-zone, which includes much of the downtown core, need a place to go.

"It would be a safe place to be. These are human beings. They come from families -- they're not dirt."

She says her center would operate between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and she would like to see it set up near the Capri Mall area.

"I would prefer to see this center around Sutherland Avenue. That's where people are being shoved out. If I found a place there, I would have to talk to the local residents."

Nicholas Critchley is a regular at the Kelowna Drop in Centre. He says a contact center outside the red-zone will cut down on crime.

"I think it's about time that someone thinks about it because as soon as people are red-zoned, they go to populated areas where people live. So they're basically loitering in those areas all the time and that's when you start finding needles, crack pipes, and drug dealing."

The manager of Kelowna's Drop in Center is reluctant to throw her full support behind Douglas' idea.

"I wouldn't say that we're fully supportive because it's a new concept. I know she's going to have some struggles."

But she agrees that the options outside the red-zone are limited.

"There needs to be somewhere in the community for people to have a safe place to go in the evening because the Gospel Mission shuts its doors at night and the only other option is either KGH or the RCMP."

Video report -- Kelly Hayes