Just a year after it opened, Coquitlam homeless shelter is full to capacity, with some people sleeping on couches to get out of the cold.
Adam Prytuluk, the facility's manager, said as winter's chill descended on the Tri-Cities, 32 people — 10 women and 22 men — arrived at the shelter, but two women managed to find housing, bringing the numbers down so everyone has a bed.
The shelter, located at 3030 Gordon Ave., has 30 beds in individual rooms for longer stays, as well as 30 apartments, but dormitories with bunk beds for men and women open temporarily, providing needed shelter in times of extreme weather.
Prytuluk says he welcomes the influx of because it's an opportunity to reach out to people and help them get a plan in place, which might include detox or more permanent housing.
"It's a real window of opportunity," Prytuluk said.
Still, it puts a strain on resources, he said, noting: "We have to double the amount of food, it doubles the amount of socks we give out. It is essentially a doubling of clients."
It's also not known how many people are still camping out in the cold, although two long-established camps, one on the Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster border, and another near the freeway in Coquitlam, likely still have people in them, said Rob Thiessen, managing director of the Hope for Freedom Society, an organization running recovery houses and providing outreach services to street homeless.
Even if the people living in the camps wanted to come indoors, "we have nowhere to put them. It makes it tough," Thiessen said.
Another problem is there is no longer any affordable housing in the Tri-Cities, so people have to move further out, Thiessen said.
Among the challenges facing local homeless is drug addiction, Thiessen said, and the threat of overdosing on fentanyl, a notorious drug typically used for pain medication that is being blamed for a sharp rise in overdose deaths in B.C.
Those who do manage to gain access to the 3030 Gordon shelter, a series of 12 days of seasonal activities are planned. Prytuluk said a local group will be putting up a tree and setting up a cookie-making activity, a Hanukkah event and potato latke feast will be served up, and there will be holiday meals and teas served to residents.
