New shelter for homeless escaping the heat this summer in Kamloops | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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New shelter for homeless escaping the heat this summer in Kamloops

Out of the Cold Shelter Kamloops program coordinator Renee Stein is joined by her four boys at the St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Thursday, June 21, 2018 to set up the new shelter space for homeless individuals seeking shelter from the heat.

KAMLOOPS - The Out of the Cold Shelter which operates from November to March out of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in downtown Kamloops will be extending its services for the summer months.

The Out of the Heat Shelter is the same idea as a winter shelter and is intended for individuals seeking a place out of hot weather, the program's coordinator Renee Stein says.

"We just want to get people out of the heat because when you're in 37 degree weather, if you don't have access to shelter or water, that can be a life-threatening situation," she says. "We are going to reopen in July and August on Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m."

Because of other commitments, the church space is only available to the shelter during those hours, Stein says.

"Unfortunately the church has other bookings as well late in the afternoon, so these were the hours that worked to rent the shelter space," she says.

Stein explains the reasoning behind the daytime sleeping beds is to help individuals who may not be resting during the night due to insufficient shelter space.

"This year, because our homeless numbers are skyrocketing, we have partnered with the City of Kamloops to reopen for the summer, they are helping fund the summer shelter," she says. "A lot of our friends out on the streets aren't sleeping at night time because there is no shelter and there's not really any safe spaces for them."

The shelter space will also provide refreshments, lunch, an art room and a separate room for individuals who might be struggling with their mental health.

"That area will be a private room if someone is having difficulties with hearing voices and needs a quieter space to sleep," Stein says, who has worked as a psychiatric nurse in the past.

With the new partnership, the shelter has also hired two homeless people to work at the shelter.

"We have hired two actively homeless women to support us in our staff," she says. "One of the women will be helping with our kitchen and the other woman will be helping with our janitorial services."

"These are women that we have known for the last several years, utilizing the shelter services and so we really wanted to be inclusive in our hiring and have them as part of the team."

With just a few more weeks before opening up the shelter, Stein and her four kids have started to set up the area.

"We are busy putting up different bulletin boards and getting the first aid kit and all the basic stuff ready to go," she says.

The shelter has room for approximately 30 individuals to sleep and can feed up to 60 people and will be open officially on Monday, July 2. The shelter is located at St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, 360 Nicola St. in downtown Kamloops.


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