The cold weather arrived early this year and it has magnified the ongoing need for housing support in the North Okanagan. While the number of shelter beds has increased since 2019 and the number of new affordable housing units has also grown in the past year – the demand still exceeds the supply. This reflects the housing crisis happening in communities right across the province.
In November 2022, Vernon bylaw reported that at least 100 people were sleeping rough outside on the streets and in our parks with no place to call home, a shocking increase from the 2021 study that reported 54 people living rough in Vernon.
Shelters across the province are operating at capacity, causing people to get turned away as there are simply not enough beds. In Vernon, the alternative to the Shelter is a warming bus operating once temperatures reach -10. But service providers identified gaps during the day, early evening and early morning, when unhoused people did not have easy access to warmth.
People living outside in sub-zero temperatures are at increased risk of frostbite, hypothermia, and a weakened immune system. Folks simply cannot remain outside in these harsh conditions.
Leanne Hammond, Executive Director of Community Foundation North Okanagan shares, “I arrived early to work one day this week to find someone huddled under a blanket sleeping in the entranceway to our building. It’s heartbreaking to see people sleeping on the cold concrete – in the winter it’s beyond heartbreaking, it’s dangerous.”
Community Foundation North Okanagan is working with the Social Planning Council and other community partners to find a way to cover the costs to expand existing services during the winter months, so that people have options to stay warm during the day and at night.
The Upper Room Mission’s Day Shelter will be extending its hours to stay open past the regular 4 pm closing time, for the next 12 weeks. This funding allows the Upper Room Mission to stay open until 8 pm on Monday, Tuesday & Friday, and extend their weekend hours to be open 10 am to 5 pm. Community Foundation North Okanagan has pledged to cover the cost for them to stay open later and is hoping donors will step up to help cover the added expense.
“I am so grateful for the support we are receiving from Community Foundation North Okanagan. It is extremely rough out there for those living on our streets and in our parks. It hurts me every day to close our doors, knowing people must stay in the cold and survive. It’s a blessing to keep our doors open longer,” says Jacco de Vin, General Manager of the Upper Room Mission.
The additional hours at the Upper Room Mission will also support the plans in place for cold snaps during the winter. When the temperatures hit -10, Turning Points Collaborative Society can activate the warming bus that operates overnight, so that people can warm up, and get a hot drink and a snack, when the Upper Room Mission is closed. This will take pressure off the Shelter, by ensuring that there are enough alternate spaces for people to warm up when the temperature drops below -10.
To contribute to the costs of keeping our most vulnerable citizens out of the cold please give to the Better Together Fund at the Community Foundation North Okanagan, or contact Leanne at leanne@cfno.org or