Kelowna's Gospel Mission

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

In 2005, the City of Kelowna and Kelowna's Gospel Mission launched a plan to relocate and redesign the ageing homeless shelter.

That never happened despite the support of the provincial government but since then, the Leon Avenue emergency shelter has become a staple of that part of downtown where, in the fall of 2019, dozens of homeless people set up a semi-permanent tent camp on the sidewalks before being forced out by the city.

READ MORE: Shutdown of Kelowna homeless tent city catches campers by surprise

Now, Kelowna's Gospel Mission has committed to creating a new purpose-built shelter by 2027, according to its recently completed 2022-25 master plan.

The location for such a facility, at this point, is unknown.

“We have publicized our strategic plan, which includes plans for a purpose-built shelter but where that is, there are no plans in place – whether we’re building somewhere else or whether we’re building exactly where we are,” Gospel Mission CEO Carmen Rempel told iNFOnews.ca. “I can confirm that we certainly do have a need for purpose-built sheltering in town.”

The Gospel Mission owns the land where it sits and has been there for more than 30 years.

“The way we’ve come to view homelessness has changed so much since 30 years ago,” Rempel said. “We envision a purpose-built shelter, one day, that would be more conducive to transformational programming that we could offer with more multi-purpose spaces. We would love to have community partners have office space in our building so we could provide more wrap-around supports. And more dignity and honour for people.”

It would include what is now offered in other shelters the Gospel Mission operates where those staying have “pods” that provide some privacy rather than the bunk-bed dormitories as in the Leon Avenue facility.

She expects a major fundraising campaign for such a project to be launched in 2024 or 2025 but the board has a lot of work to do before then on concepts like location.

Certainly, there’s land value to consider.

In May, the City of Kelowna bought the courtyard used by Gospel Mission residents next to their building for $2.95 million for 0.136 acres.

READ MORE: Courtyard property next to Kelowna's Gospel Mission with $2.95M asking price sold to city

The Gospel Mission site is roughly the same size at .138 acres.

Right across Leon Avenue, however, is the Water Street by the Park development that will have three highrise towers, two of which are currently under construction. One will be the city’s tallest building at 42 storeys.

That could have a significant impact on neighbouring land prices.

Certainly, homelessness is an issue in the upcoming municipal election.

Tom Dyas, who is in his second bid to unseat Mayor Colin Basran, said during his 2018 campaign, that he had a “community partner” who offered a ranch for the homeless “where they will receive shelter, healing and hope.”

He has yet to say whether that’s still in his plans.

READ MORE: Tom Dyas wants to fill the cracks in Kelowna’s boom by becoming its next mayor

Gord Lovegrove, who finished in ninth spot in 2018, just short of getting a council seat, has plans for the homeless that, he says, are quite different.

His idea is to have a “campus of care” near transit where service and housing providers come together to not only house those in need but to include an occupational component to the program.

The occupational side would be a vertical farm training and working facility – ideally located somewhere like the unfarmed land across Springfield Road from Orchard Plaza, he said.

Homeless people would be “connected to the land” after they enter their “healing journey.” That would also create a trained workforce to help harvest the fall fruit crop since there’s always a shortage of domestic pickers, he said.

In 2005, the city entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Gospel Mission, triggered by a grant from the newly-launched provincial task force on homelessness, mental illness and addictions.

In that agreement, according to a report to council dated Oct. 28, 2005, the Gospel Mission would fundraise for the project and receive $250,000 from each of the provincial and federal governments and build on land leased for a nominal fee from the city.

The Gospel Mission would also work with the city to sell its existing property and a new site would be selected based on community consultation.

Nothing ever came of that initiative.

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