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LRCA unveils new Extreme Weather Shelter downtown

The homeless in Ladysmith and the surrounding area stand to gain over the winter months as a result of a new Extreme Weather Shelter (EWS) that will open next November.
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Mike Gregory Photo Councillor Carol Henderson, LRCA executive director Shannon Wilson, president Marsh Stevens, local Extreme Weather Shelter coordinator Tim Solloway and Bruce Mason, founding member of the Ladysmith Homeless Aid Committee.

The homeless in Ladysmith and the surrounding area stand to gain over the winter months as a result of a new Extreme Weather Shelter (EWS) that will open next November.

“The need is high for a community our size,” said Shannon Wilson, executive director of the Ladysmith Resources Centre Association.

This winter the Resources Centre operated the EWS out of Bethel Church while it awaited a new permanent space in the basement of the Rialto Manor.

“We had an unseasonably bad winter and had more people who were in need and came in on a regular basis,” Wilson said.

The public was invited last Friday to see the space which will open during adverse weather conditions from Nov. 1 to Mar. 31 each year.

This winter the EWS was open 114 nights and hosted 198 guests - 13 being women.

While the church offered a wide open area with a commercial kitchen, the Railto space has six beds for men and four for women, split into separate dorms.

Wilson credits architect Angela Quek for designing the new space more like a “suite.”

“She really worked with the space that was available to design what I think feels like a home - it’s got the living room area, the kitchen and the dorms,” Wilson said.

The renovation budget set by BC Housing was $249,000.

It also provided the LRCA with a nightly budget this winter of $470.30 to run the EWS at Bethel while construction took place.

BC Housing spokesperson Mat Loup said he was unable to comment on specifics of government programs or services because of the election but noted some of the benefits of the new EWS.

“The space was vacant and underutilized, and the opportunity to provide the EWS in a central area of Ladysmith was there,” he said.

On site laundry and wheelchair accessible shower will offer a more comfortable stay for people while they rest up.

“It’s huge - the first thing they can do is have a shower and warm up and then we can give them some dry clothes from our supplies, a meal and then have a place to stay,” Wilson said.

LRCA secured donated items such as a stove and futon, while funding assistance from the Ladysmith Health Care Auxiliary and 100+ Women Who Care helped purchase a fridge and dishwasher.

In the first year the weather shelter had multiple locations in town before Bethel opened its doors.

The local EWS’s coordinator Tim Solloway said being downtown now is a major benefit.

“It’s going to help a lot that it’s right down where the people who need our help are,” he said. “The people who do come in are so happy and grateful and that’s the reward of it all.”

In 2013, the death of 65-year-old resident Dave Alton, who passed away sleeping in a dugout in Aggie Field, caused close friends, the LRCA and several others to form a committee wanting to ensure no one else died locally due to homelessness.

BC Housing has no immediate plans for how the new space might be used for the other seven months of the year but plans to discuss it further with the LRCA.

Wilson envisions a “wrap around approach” to helping the community involving professionals from other agencies.

“It just seems to me the potential here of meeting people’s needs is amazing,” she said.

The LRCA thanks the Bethel Church,, BC Housing, Kinetic Construction, Angela Quek and the Town of Ladysmith.





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