With temperatures dropping this week, more homeless people are visiting local shelters to keep dry and warm and get a hot meal.
As many as six or seven people and their pets are getting a good night’s sleep on mats in the extreme weather shelter at Trinity United Church in Port Coquitlam, according to Tri-Cities Homelessness Task Group coordinator Polly Krier, with another 10 or more people being picked up around the Tri-Cities and taken to Coquitlam Alliance Church for a sleep on a mat and meals.
These services are in addition to the permanent shelter at 3030 Gordon Avenue in Coquitlam, which has 30 shelter beds and 30 transitional housing units.
“Hopefully, we’ve made their life easier and we’ve provided them with a warm spot,” said Krier.
Rob Thiessen, who runs the Bridge Shelter program, that rotates through Coquitlam churches from October to the end of March, says numbers have held steady at about 10 to 14 people a night.
But the most important statistic, he said, is the number of people who have found permanent housing through the Bridge Shelter program between Oct. 31 and Dec. 31.
Thiessen said as many as 29 people have either found permanent housing or went into treatment through the shelter programs running in the Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge.
“The bottom line is — regardless of our numbers — our intent isn’t just to bring people into a shelter and feed them. Our intent is to get them off the street permanently, and we have good numbers for that.”
In addition to sleeping on a mat, people using the shelters also get three meals, and often warm clothing or toiletries provided by donors and volunteers.
