Downtown Eastside drop-in centre flooded, donations ruined

A women's shelter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has a massive clean-up ahead after a flood earlier this week.

Officials say up to 20 boxes full of donations will now have to be tossed out because of a sewer back-up at the WISH Drop-In Centre.

Staff started noticing toxic water leaking from the bathrooms and drains Monday night; before long, the sewage was flooding into their overflow storage room where donations are kept.

"It was gushing at a level that there was now full sewage water all in the outer offices, it was quickly seeping in," said ​executive director Mebrat Beyene. "So anything that was touched — fabric, wood — it's now got to go. They can't clean it to a point that's safe."

That means hundreds of donated items are now unsalvageable — including women's clothing, accessories, toiletries, cosmetics and first-aid supplies.

'It's a total mess'

According to Beyene, this will directly affect the 350 women who use the agency's services on a daily basis.

"This is stuff our supporters and donors collect for WISH all year round, and this is the time that we get the most of it," she said. "So it's a really unfortunate time for this to happen, because those donations actually go quite quickly."

It's still not clear what caused the mess, but staff believe it'll be several weeks before the storage area is repaired.

"We simply can't accept anything physical until then, there's no space."

For now, Beyene adds the best way for people to help is through cash donations instead.