Province kicks in $1.5M for emergency shelters

The provincial government has agreed to spend $1.5 million to fund Vancouver's emergency overnight shelter program for another three more months.

"I’m very pleased that the city and the province have reached an agreement to keep the HEAT shelters open for at least another three months," said Mayor Gregor Robertson on Monday morning.

As part of the agreement, the province will contribute $1.5 million, while the City of Vancouver will pony up additional funds for capital costs and maintenence.

Vancouver's Homeless Emergency Action Team opened five shelters in December and January as part of Robertson's plan to provide emergency shelter for the winter. The 500 spaces quickly filled up during the unseasonably snowy winter, and the city credits them for reducing the number of mental health and street disorder calls to police.

Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman said the funding would maintain the shelters while permanent options are built.

"Extending the operations of these shelters means more people will find links from the shelters to permanent forms of housing as we renovate and create new housing options over the next few months," said Coleman.

But Ric Matthews, the pastor at First United Church in the Downtown Eastside, which opened its pews to the homeless as one of the low-barrier shelters, said a permanent solution for the most marginal homeless people is still needed.

Hundreds of homeless crowd into First United every night, preferring its relaxed rules to other more institutional shelters, he said.

"This group is going to need something like this on a permanent basis — because it's in this 'indoor park' that we're able to make the connections, build the relationships, bring in the community workers, provide the advocacy, and help people explore the ambivalence in their own lives."

The shelters are called "low-barrier," because they have more relaxed rules about pets, possessions, intoxication and other behaviors than most traditional homeless shelters.

"People crowded into First United [even] when we made it clear to them that there was capacity in shelters where there were mattresses and beds and that we'd take them there … and yet they stayed at First United," he said.