Kelowna shelter programs kick into gear as winter rolls in

239 people sleeping outside

Photo: BCHousing

Inside the Bay Avenue Shelter prior to its opening in October 2022.

As winter settles into the valley, Kelowna service providers are starting to figure out how they can best protect the city’s street entrenched population.

As of this week, there are an estimated 239 people sleeping outdoors, Kelowna’s Bylaw Services Manager, Kevin Mead, said. It’s a “conservative” estimate and matches last year's count, despite further housing being built in the last 12 months.

In a press release distributed Tuesday, the province said Kelowna had 305 shelter spaces this year.

Two temporary shelters — Bay Avenue shelter and a Kelowna Motel shelter — will offer 97 beds for those in need. Permanent, year-round shelters will offering the rest. Those include 20 beds at Alexandra Gardner Safe Centre, 80 at Cornerstone Shelter, 60 at Kelowna Gospel Mission, and 48 at Richter Street Shelter.

Mead said there’s an expectation another 25 shelter places will come online soon, as well.

Community need won't likely pair with resources available, though he said everyone is trying.

“No one wants to see people suffer,” Mead said, adding that in the three years he’s been working with bylaw services, he’s seen a five fold increase in the number of people that are sheltering outdoors.

"And our work has gotten more complicated.”

As populations grow and complications increase, he still feels fortunate to say that, at the frontline level, bylaw services relationship with all relevant governmental departments, nonprofit partners and enforcement partners has evolved.

“We all try to work alongside, in the overlap, to complement each other wherever possible, without causing more harm,” Mead said.

"I don't think any single agency has the ability to manage the demand that's out there, quite frankly, while just trying to minimize suffering as much as possible, while also not condoning some of the behaviors that are associated with some of the peripheral activities.”

While the sheltering issues are being dealt with, Mead said there’s also a plan in place from the city that’s broken into three stages.

Level one is from 0 C to - 10 C. Level two is when it feels like - 10 C to - 20 C. And level three is below - 20 C.

When temperatures hit level one, bylaw officers increase daily checks to include, not just compliance with city policies, but also health checks. If needed they engage additional partners to come alongside, to help with warming supplies, as available.

At level two and three Mead said they "adopt a very much more compassionate approach" with regular wellness checks on the daily, if not multiple times a day, depending on the specific weather conditions. The city also brings onboard a warm air bus program, which allows people to warm up near where they are sheltering.

Then there is further distribution of warming supplies with community partners.