The weather is turning, and as residents of Parksville Qualicum Beach begin waking up to frost on their windshields, there’s still no confirmation on where the homeless people of the region will find refuge from the cold and wet nights of the winter ahead.
An extreme weather shelter was operated out of the Salvation Army Church at the intersection of Alberni Highway and McMillan Street in downtown Parksville in recent years. It was open for 63 nights between Nov. 1, 2015 and March 31 of this year.
Members of the Oceanside Task Force on Homelessness said recently they have been told that facility is no longer available. Society of Organized Services officials said Tuesday they were close to finding a location for the shelter this year, but were not yet prepared to confirm any details.
“If we don’t find an answer for the extreme weather shelter there’s going to be a lot of people who who don’t have somewhere to go this winter,” Sarah Poole, the task force’s former homelessness co-ordinator, said in July.
Poole also said at that time the task force had to apply for provincial government funding to run the shelter by Sept. 1, and they couldn’t do that without a location.
