The Bulkley Valley Ministerial Association has joined the conversation to develop a temporary solution to Smithers’ homelessness crisis.
Last week, representatives from BC Housing met with Smithers town council to see if the organization would be able to provide assistance in addressing homelessness before winter begins.
BC Housing said they could help with organizational support, loans and grants for permanent housing projects and may also be able to provide support for a temporary project.
“Certainly we look at extreme weather shelters in communities,” BC Housing’s Malachy Tohill explained. “We have them in a number of communities across the North.”
The discussion about temporary solutions stems from a Sept. 3 meeting between town officials and representatives from a number of Smithers community service organizations. At that meeting, a number of possible solutions were discussed, including utilizing space in churches and motels and building a temporary, serviced camp to house individuals in need.
“It sounds like... working with the church community, the Salvation Army and the ministerial [association] around some sort of temporary shelter initiative is probably going to be a more productive direction to head in than trying to build temporary shelters, is that a fair characterization?” asked Smithers Mayor Taylor Bachrach.
“I would say that’s a fair characterization,” Tohill said.
Rick Apperson, executive director of the Bulkley Valley Salvation Army and secretary of the Bulkley Valley Ministerial Association said the two groups are now exploring the possibility of providing a shelter at the Salvation Army’s location on Main St.
“This is an ongoing need in Smithers,” Apperson said.
“We are looking into the possibility of having an extreme weather shelter overflow. There are lots of little things we have to work out as far as safety and procedures but it’s something we’re exploring.”
Joan LeClair, from the Smithers Action Group Association, said her group is currently working on a needs and demands study to determine who is not using the Broadway Place shelter and why, so they can better tailor future projects to meet those people’s needs.
“As probably people are aware, our shelter is super for the folks that use it,” LeClair said.
“In any city or town, there are all kinds of reasons why people don’t use shelters and find other means that we wouldn’t consider to be proper housing.”