Those seeking to warm up in the Duncan area when temperatures drop this winter now have access to overnight shelter in the Cowichan Community Centre.
The centre opened for the first time overnight Tuesday to Wednesday with a capacity for 20 people.
The community centre’s Heritage Hall on the second floor will open as a shelter from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. when temperatures drop below 2 C.
The space could also open during other adverse weather conditions, including high wind, rain or snow, said Kris Schumacher, manager of communications and engagement for the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
Lookout Housing and Health Society is contracted to manage the shelter until March 31.
Notifications that the shelter is open will be made on Emergency Management Cowichan’s website at emcowichan.ca by 1 p.m. on the day of the opening.
There will be no access from the Heritage Hall to the rest of the building.
The regional district designated the community centre’s Heritage Hall as a warming centre after Duncan councillors voted last month against locating a shelter in a local church.
Neighbours expressed concerns about using St. Andrew’s Church as an extreme weather shelter after it operated last winter.
One neighbour said she called police on two occasions when people who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs were yelling in the street.
Meanwhile, the City of Nanaimo is funding two more daytime warming centres this winter, bringing the total number of daytime refuges from cold temperatures to three.
The city estimates that about 138 people without homes will be able to use the facilities.
Mayor Leonard Krog said in a statement on Wednesday that council was grateful to Risebridge Society, the 7-10 Club Society and Island Crisis Care Society “for their willingness to work quickly to establish warming centre services.”
The first to open this winter was Risebridge Society at 520 Prideaux St., which started operating as a warming centre in mid-November. It has room for 48 people and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Island Crisis Care Society at 2025 Bowen Rd. expects to be able to take up to 60 people at one time starting Jan. 2, daily between noon and 7 p.m.
The 7-10 Club Society is renting 5 Victoria Rd. and anticipates opening its warming centre Dec. 22. It’s expected to be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and should hold at least 30 people at one time, said board chair Gord Fuller.
The city is covering the cost of renting the space, food and three staff, Fuller said.
All three warming centres will run until the end of March.
The building the 7-10 Club is using does not have a kitchen so it’s unlikely that hot meals will be on offer. Fuller anticipates the centre will have hot chocolate, coffee, yogurt, granola bars and sandwiches that they will put together.
“Generally people will sit down for a few hours and leave,” he said. “But the important thing is we get people off the street. When they are off the street, there’s a better connection with some of the services.”
For example, an outreach worker could arrange to meet someone at a warming centre, Fuller said.
