Camping along the rail trail in Kelowna earlier this year. Temperatures will plummet in the Okanagan over the next few days and dozens of people are still sleeping outside in Kelowna. The Central Okanagan Journey Home Society gave an update on the city’s response to the coming cold snap in a press release Thursday afternoon, outlining the steps that will be taken as temperatures drop. “We are pulling every lever we can to increase the number of indoor housing spaces available in Kelowna. Moving into the winter season, emergency carpet programs and other extreme weather responses are being planned, as well as a number of other initiatives,” said COJHS Executive Director Stephanie Gauthier. “However, demand for shelter continues to grow faster than new spaces are available, and that means we will have people sheltering outdoors this winter.” Overnight lows are forecast to drop to -4C on Saturday night, before reaching -9C on Tuesday night. A new shelter opened last month in the old BC Tree Fruits packing house at the corner of Ellis Street and Bay Avenue. But while the shelter was intended to provide 60 new shelter beds, operator Kelowna Gospel Mission was unable to find sufficient staff and only 30 beds are currently provided there. That has left dozens of people still camping overnight at the city-sanctioned Rail Trail campground off Richter Street. This camp was set up next to the Kelowna Curling Club in 2019, until a 39-year-old man died overnight at the camp in December of that year. Gauthier says Journey Home Society works with the City of Kelowna, BC Housing, shelter operators and outreach services to help those in the city without homes. He says people will carry out welfare checks and hand out “warming supplies” to people sleeping outside. “We have developed an extreme cold weather response plan to respond to the risks and challenges created by cold weather, ice and snow,” said Gauthier. “The plan has already been developed where we can and implementation will continue through the winter. We will not stop trying to mobilize solutions for those who need shelter from the cold.” It says a “level two response” kicks in when temperatures drop below a certain level, triggering “emergency carpet programs.” He did not say at what temperature that response occurs or where emergency mats will be offered. Gauthier did not respond to Castanet’s request for further clarification by publication. In the press release, he says the range of responses that can be offered over the winter will depend on shelter operators’ ability to find staff. Kelowna Gospel Mission executive director Carmen Rempel told Castanet Thursday that they don’t have the ability to operate a warming station this year, other than the Bay Avenue shelter. There are currently 238 shelter beds spread across five emergency shelters in Kelowna.
