CMHA says extreme weather beds hitting capacity as cold snap rolls through city

Photo: Castanet

The Canadian Mental Health Association says its extreme weather beds have nearly maxed out as the city’s vulnerable population looks for shelter as a cold snap blasts the region.

CMHA Kamloops operates 35 extreme weather beds across the city. That’s on top of 132 regular shelter beds and numerous others from community partners it helps to fill.

As an arctic air mass rolls through the region, CMHA Kamloops executive director Alfred Achoba said the last few days have been its busiest so far this winter.

He said all but two beds across its three sites were filled Saturday night and he expects more will be needed moving forward.

“I’m connecting with some of my managers to kind of figure out a fourth option, because obviously we don’t want to turn anyone away,” Achoba said.

He said CMHA expects it’ll need another 10 beds to accommodate the number of people seeking refuge Sunday night.

“It may not be a bed, it might just be bringing people in-door and having them sit on the couch or on a chair,” Achoba said.

The extreme weather beds are activated when temperatures hit -5 C and CMHA will coordinate with other shelter providers to make sure every bed is full before the extreme weather beds are activated — both new strategies this year.

Extreme weather has been observed on and off in the city since November, and the extreme weather beds have been activated since early January. Last month, Achoba said the its extreme weather beds were averaging 60 to 90 per cent occupancy this winter.

He said when temperatures get colder, shelters tend to get busier.

“Generally speaking, we're seeing a lot of individuals who have slept rough coming in because it's very challenging for them to be outside with the type of extreme weather we're seeing,” Achoba said.

He said the shuttle has been running during the day to move people somewhere warm, as the city doesn’t have a day space for people to stay warm when the sun is up,

Achoba encouraged anyone who sees someone who may require CMHA services to call its shelters or the Envision Shuttle at 250-214-6300.

“As long as they’re willing to accept shelter, we have the beds, we have the resources,” he said,

“We are very innovative, even when capacity is limited — we don’t want anyone to freeze outside and always welcome them into our programs.”