BC Housing set to announce operator for two temporary shelters on Monday

KAMLOOPS — UPDATE: BC Housing is saying there is no imminent announcement on the operator of two temporary shelters in Kamloops.

EARLIER: BC Housing is set to make an announcement on Monday (Oct. 31) to name an operator to run two temporary winter shelters in Kamloops, CFJC Today has learned.

The two shelters will run out of the Yacht Club on River Street and inside the gym of the Old Stuart Wood Elementary.

CMHA Kamloops backed out of its contract with BC Housing, wanting to push for more permanent housing. The City of Kamloops has been in touch with the Out of the Cold program, which operated the Stuart Wood shelter three days a week last winter with federal funding. CFJC Today learned Out of the Cold had a meeting with BC Housing on Friday morning (Oct. 28). It could not provide an interview due to the announcement on Monday.

Kamloops mayor-elect Reid Hamer-Jackson has been an advocate for overhauling the shelter system in Kamloops. He says having another social agency other than CMHA is a good thing for people on the streets.

“When you have one shelter operator for the majority of the city, and one person gets banned from a shelter, they’re banned from all the shelters. It’s not right,” claimed Hamer-Jackson. “I’ve heard [CMHA] wants more housing, they want more this, it’s the city’s fault, it’s the police’s fault.”

Hamer-Jackson has been in contact with the Out of the Cold program. Beyond these temporary shelters, scheduled to open Nov. 1, he even suggested the city start operating some of the shelters in town.

“I don’t know. That’s why we would go to the council and we’d go to the [city staff],” he said. “We’ve got a social housing and development division. We have two employees that are social housing and development managers. We’d talk to them. We’d talk to experts.”