Life may have gotten a little bit easier for the city’s homeless population.
Upper Room Mission now has 10 storage units available for Vernon’s homeless residents, six of which are large enough to fit a shopping cart.
“It gives the people that are camping out less stressors,” said Lisa Anderson, Upper Room Mission executive director, adding that new city bylaws mandating that temporary shelters in parks must be dismantled by 9 a.m. cause the homeless to carry their belongings with them at all times.
“Imagine carrying your whole world in a cart. This morning (Monday), we had people show up already and they were so ecstatic to have a place that they can store their belongings. They were so thankful.”
Funding for six storage units was provided by the Community Foundation of North Okanagan, and two units that can accommodate four people were donated by Home Depot. In total, the storage units can accommodate 10 people’s belongings, though families can share storage units.
As of Monday afternoon, two storage units are filled but all are expected to fill this week.
“We were really excited about the idea,” said Leanne Hammond, foundation executive director. “It gives them some freedom and ability to function like the rest of us. It keeps their belongings secure — a thing we take for granted. If they don’t have a place to store it, things get stolen. They can’t take their cart full of stuff everywhere.”
The project began taking shape in January, and both Hammond and Anderson are impressed by how everything has come together.
“Everything went quite quickly,” Anderson said.
People using the storage have access to it for two weeks at a time to ensure as many people can use the service as possible. When units are filled, applicants are placed on a wait list.
To reduce costs, the storage units were built with the help of the community, with Everton Ridge Homes constructing the sheds for free, and WildFire Excavation providing free landscaping.
“It’s a really good example of a community response to a community issue,” Hammond said.