The qathet Emergency Shelter will close indefinitely at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, March 26th.
The building at 4746/4752 Joyce Ave was sold last June and we were notified that our longtime lease would not be renewed beyond the end of this month. Since then, we’ve been working with a local commercial realtor to pursue all available options, we’ve requested a month-to-month lease extension from the new owners, and we have reached out to several faith groups in town about leasing space to provide overnight shelter services, to no avail. The City of Powell River and BC Housing have recently agreed to assess a vacant lot on Barnett St for development for shelter services, but with no immediate alternative, the shelter has nowhere to go.
Our whole team is extremely disappointed that it’s come to the point where there is a forced disruption of emergency shelter services, and we are very concerned about the impact of a shelter closure on the whole community. The people who access the shelter are all ages and come from all different backgrounds. Over the past two months alone, we’ve supported 56 unique individuals with a clean bed, warm meals, staff support, and community referrals and connections. The shelter closure will be felt not just by individuals but the whole community.
We continue to search and advocate for interim program space.