The Loops outreach centre on Tranquille in Kamloops.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

During a recent spell of freezing winter weather, volunteers abandoned the rules and worked quickly to compensate for the lack of overnight shelter beds in Kamloops and turned their day centre into an overnight one.

The Loop outreach centre spent Christmas to New Year's Day bringing people in from the cold, some of whom were dropped off by concerned community service workers.

Glenn Hilke is the coordinator at the Loop, a day space for vulnerable people. He said he knew a cold snap was coming and phoned the city and other agencies just prior to Christmas to find out if there was a plan in place to meet the cold weather emergency.

“No one had a plan to increase overnight beds so my team got together and made one,” he said. “People were already coming in with wounds from the cold, we didn’t wait for frostbite. While serving breakfast and lunch on Christmas Eve we asked people about shelter and if they had places to sleep. There was a shortage so we filled it.”

The plan was put into action on Christmas day, with volunteers rearranging furniture and setting up 25 sleeping mats and blankets. Hilke said on the third night 33 people used the overnight service at the centre, with an average of 25 using it per night across the week.

Volunteers kept the centre operating 24 hours per day up until Jan. 1. But they took their own risks in doing so. The Loop has a rocky history with the city, which effectively shut down its resource centre last summer. It was strange then, to have the city's own bylaw officers — which Kamloops calls Community Service Officers — bringing people to them.

“Community Service Officers were coming to us with people they found freezing on the street,” he said. “There was one guy who would have died lying on the sidewalk. He had no shoes on and no covering over him.

“Once word got out, other shelters and agencies started calling us every day asking if we had space. Various departments at the hospital were calling because people were going there to stay warm but they couldn’t keep them overnight. People were calling for help because the shelters were saying they were full.”

Hilke said the day space is not zoned for overnight shelter use so he didn’t ask for the City’s permission when temperatures dropped to dangerous levels.

“We didn’t want to be told no,” he said. “We knew if we started it in a crisis we likely wouldn’t be shut down. No one from the city has addressed us.”

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: City of Kamloops revokes The Loop's business license

The Loop is currently operating during the day until 9 p.m. while still working to assist vulnerable people in finding overnight shelters.

“Every time someone comes in we ask if they are set up somewhere for the night,” Hilke said. “If they are not we call CMHA and begin the process of getting them to a shelter including transporting them there. It is a complicated process for people to get shelter, one shelter does not necessarily know what is happening at the other shelter and it changes rapidly.”

With 153 total shelter beds available in Kamloops, it falls around 50 short of the need. According to the most recent Point in Time count, 206 people in Kamloops are living without permanent shelter.

“There needs to be a warming centre in place until winter is over because there will be more cold snaps,” Hilke said. “The city knows cold weather is coming again and there are not enough spaces.”

Hilke said the city has not offered an apology for a lack of beds or a thank you for the services the Loop is providing to fill in the gaps during extreme weather.

Carmin Mazzotta, social, housing and community development manager for the City of Kamloops declined to comment on the operation of the Loop.

“I am encouraged to see the actual shelter providers have provided transportation with outreach teams to get people to shelters,” he said. “There has been an incredible effort made by non-profit shelter providers to provide additional shelter space. A couple of days ago the system made room for nearly 200 people. No one is being turned away.”

Mazzotta said he is tuned in to the fact there are not enough year round beds in the city, which is part of a bigger picture he is working on.

“We are working on shelter land use analysis and finding locations that have access to things like amenities and transportation,” he said. “We are building communications with B.C. Housing. There is a need for shelter but there is also a need for permanent supportive housing and other housing models. A lot of folks are very precariously housed. We need to holistically look at how to meet the needs across the landscape of the city.”

Earlier this winter season a senior who regularly used Kamloops shelters died in the cold. His body was found on Nov. 3, 2021.

The man, who used a wheelchair, was in the cold and likely died of exposure.

READ MORE: Senior dies amid homeless shelter shortage in Kamloops

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