Cold weather shelter set to open for winter
By Mona Mattei
The Boundary region’s emergency cold weather shelter is preparing for its second season of operations and will open on schedule to welcome people Nov. 1. Operated by the Boundary Emergency and Transition Housing Society (BETHS), the shelter is calling for help from new volunteers and donors as it gets organized for the coming winter season. First opening its doors at the Grand Forks Christian Center last January with 15 beds available, the shelter’s board of directors have steered the organization to a new level including hiring a shelter co-ordinator / outreach worker. “Basically if you could end up getting cold and dying we can be open (under licencing),” explained Kristine Eyre, secretary for BETHS. “We had people last year who just wanted to sit and warm up. They didn’t really want to sleep or lay down. It’s trust. They were just checking us out, seeing what we’re all about. It was pretty successful last year.” BETHS was an offshoot of the public safety committee started under the City of Grand Forks. A small board of directors took over the task of setting up the society, and working through the layers of red tape to meet insurance regulations and ultimately finding a safe place for the shelter to be located. The board used from 40 surveys by homeless people to secure their initial funding. Homelessness may not always be visible in the community, said Eyre. It is defined as anything from people who couch-surf, who may be recently released from centres, domestic disputes forcing a person out, to anyone with no permanent home or people who are doing illegal activities to secure housing. “We’re happy to be open. Last year we had our trial run, this year we’re working towards hiring our coordinator, recruiting more volunteers, increasing our financial position. What we need is sustainable funding to keep this going,” said Eyre. People seeking shelter can sign in for the night at the shelter and receive an evening snack, bedding, breakfast and another snack for later in the day from the services. They are able to serve all genders and even can accommodate a family in a separate space for safety. They plan to be open Nov. 1 through till Mar. 31 from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Last year they had up to two people every night from Feb. 2 through Mar. 10, said Eyre. The majority of BETHS’ current funding comes from B.C. Housing, but they also received support from the Boundary Hospital which donated the beds, the City of Grand Forks, Grand Forks Christian Center and many donors helping to provide the food and shelter needed. Their goal is to have a permanent home someday and be able to be open year-round as well as developing some transitional housing for longer term solutions. The shelter beds are available for anyone across the Boundary and the RCMP will drive people to Grand Forks from the outlying areas if needed. “The last thing we want to do is investigate the sudden death of a homeless person,” said Staff Sgt. Jim Harrison, a member of the board of directors. “Getting them in a car and bringing them here beats the heck out of a tragic loss of life, we don’t mind. Before this we had nothing we could do for these people. To be honest, there were times that we opened up the cell block and offered a bed for the night, and it did happen because there was no shelter at all. That’s pretty stigmatizing for people in need.” Under the B.C. Assistance to Shelter Act the RCMP also have the ability to apprehend people if needed in extreme weather conditions. Harrison said they not yet used the act to pick up anyone. “It’s not something we take lightly, we don’t run around town scooping everybody up,” Harrison commented. “It has to be a pretty dire situation before we’d get to the point of forcing somebody into a car. Most of the time it’s done voluntarily. Most of the time (people) are just happy for the offer (of someplace warm to sleep and some food.)”
The board invites new volunteers, donors, and anyone interested in more information to contact them through bethsinquire@gmail.com. They are still welcoming resumes for the co-ordinator / outreach worker job through Community Futures Boundary job board.
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