In Cranbrook, where homelessness continues to affect residents, some service providers help fill the gaps

As B.C.'s housing crisis continues to impact people in Cranbrook, some service providers are working to help fill the gaps, preparing extreme weather shelters and connecting unhoused people with a doctor. 

"I'm feeling kind-of okay right now, it's been up and down. We lived on the hill behind the Travelodge for most of the summer," Kathleen Dupuis told CBC News.

Dupuis, who says she's been without a home for more than a decade, now stays at the Travelodge, a temporary homeless shelter set up by B.C. Housing in 2020.

It has 62 shelter rooms, including 17 operating nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to the Crown agency. Of the 17 rooms, nine were recently added on Dec. 1.

According to B.C. Housing's 2023 Point-In-Count (PIC) Homeless Count, 116 people are experiencing homelessness in Cranbrook, compared to 63 in 2020 — an increase of about 84 per cent.  

The East Kootenay city, about 85 kilometres west of the border with Alberta, does not have a permanent homeless shelter, however B.C. Housing has purchased a space in the community where it plans to operate a full-time shelter next year.

"Renovations to convert the former fitness facility at 209 16th Ave. N. into a 40-bed shelter are expected to be completed by fall 2024. The Travelodge shelter will remain open until then," B.C. Housing said in an email to CBC News. 

In the meantime, several agencies have teamed up to open an extreme weather response shelter, which will operate at night when a weather alert is in place, until mid-April.

"It is simply an overnight lifesaving space for unhoused people to come and have a warm and safe space to be," said Marcel Germer, social development co-ordinator for the City of Cranbrook.

She says it would have been "ideal" to have a shelter open 24/7 for the winter, but they "just couldn't come up with the right space."

Dupuis says she worries about her peers out in the cold.

"Lots of these people are elderly, or sick, or or addicted, which also puts you at a health risk," she said. "So I mean, it's not a healthy person being put outside all day."

Wellness sessions help provide care 

Outreach organization ANKORS East Kootenay has started wellness sessions, including for unhoused people, that include time with a doctor. 

"It's about access to care and it's about helping people who are unhoused, or who use drugs, get the care that they should get in Canada," said Dr. Ryck Schielke, a family doctor who sees as many patients as he can over an hour each Tuesday at ANKORS.

Diana Shuttleworth, who has been homeless for the last year, says being able to see a doctor is invaluable. 

"Dr. Ryck really understands the homeless — as we're not treated very well in society. As soon as they find out you're homeless, their attitudes towards you kind of cools. It's nice to talk to Dr. Ryck because he really gets, you know, the homelessness part of it."

Dupuis says she's seen improvements with her peers since the program started. 

"[Most of my peers] will not go to a doctor, most of us will not enter the hospital here for stigma reasons," she said. 

"And they're now getting the health care they need. They're picking up the prescriptions for a wide range of health conditions, and they're taking their medication, and becoming more well by being able to come to a place that they're comfortable at." 

Polly Sutherland, harm reduction co-ordinator for ANKORS, says those wellness sessions are just one piece to a large puzzle and that stable housing, recovery and support are also needed. 

"We know that once people are stabilized, that is where change can happen," she said. "And it's really hard to be stabilized when you're having to take your tent down each day."

In July, the City of Cranbrook enacted a no camping bylaw, prohibiting camping in certain areas of town and requiring people to take their tents and other temporary shelters down during the day in the warmer months.