A Nanaimo homeless shelter that usually operates after Halloween has opened earlier than normal.
First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo, located on Townsite Road, has opened its shelter and will be providing beds for as many as 30 people experiencing homelessness until Oct. 31. The City of Nanaimo and B.C. Housing are assisting the church with the initiative.
Kevan Griffith, shelter coordinator, said the shelter is running exactly has it been during the winter time, operating between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. He said a few dozen people have come by since opening earlier this week, adding that only one individual from Discontent City has stayed at the shelter.
“It’s a slow start but even when we open in the winter it can be a bit of a slow start,” he said. “There are a couple of regulars that are back and one from tent city.”
Griffith said more than three quarters of the individuals they typically see in the shelter are those who call Nanaimo home and the rest are usually transient.
“They come from the hospital from somewhere else, get stuck here until their next cheque and then eventually get transportation home,” he said. “Or they get here to Nanaimo, spend all their money and have no way to get home.”
When it comes to funding, Griffith said the city is paying for the shelter to operate with the expectation of reimbursement from B.C. Housing.
Griffith said because billing is on a per-day basis, it is too early to provide an estimate as to how much opening the shelter in the summer will cost.
“If this was city money, we would get a certain amount of money, but with B.C. Housing you get it on a per diem basis. So we get amount of money for food per person per day. Labour is a fixed cost, but for food if we have 10 people we get paid for food for 10 people,” he said.
Following Oct. 31, the shelter will continue to operate as a cold weather shelter.
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