The Emergency Weather Response program was triggered last week in Maple Ridge and thanks to a local church – and the City of Maple Ridge – those living on the streets had a place to take shelter from the snow.
Extreme weather beds were made available on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Maple Ridge Alliance Church, just in time for the first snowfall of the season and were accessible throughout the cold spell until the weather emergency was cancelled on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Between 9 and 19 people accessed the site each night.
But now, the city is working with BC Housing to find a local service provider to operate the emergency weather shelter for the rest of the winter.
“When council learned that the local service providers were not able to get a shelter open in time, we directed staff to pull together the resources to get this essential service open immediately,” said Mayor Dan Ruimy.
“Doing nothing was not an option.”
The issue surfaced in early November, after the Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministries told The News they no longer had the space to accommodate 30 Extreme Weather Response beds.
“Our dining hall is full with shelter clients right now,” said Amelia Norrie at the time, noting that was the space they used in previous years for wet weather beds.
“We just can’t accommodate any more with the growing number of people who are staying with us,” she added, noting that the Salvation Army would support whatever organization could take on the program.
Retired Major David Macpherson, executive director of the Ridge Meadows branch of the Salvation Army, confirmed that his organization was told on Tuesday the city had found another service provider for the program.
“So we’ve stepped back,” said Macpherson, noting that anyone who had been interested in working with their organization will be asked if they want to work with whoever runs the program in the future.
On Monday, Macpherson said they were “frantically” looking for people to work the 12-hour overnight shift. However, he said, finding people was proving difficult given the nature of the work is onerous and the fact that it is not guaranteed work, as the program only runs when temperatures are forecast to dip below freezing.
According to the Homelessness Services Association of BC, the EWR program is provincially funded to support community-based services to provide additional temporary emergency shelter spaces during periods of extreme winter weather, which threaten the health and safety of individuals experiencing homelessness.
“Service providers were not ready when the extreme cold weather came sooner than anticipated last week,” explained city spokesperson Fred Armstrong, adding the city took the lead and worked with a number of agencies to ensure an emergency shelter was available to meet the immediate needs of people who were unsheltered or vulnerable in the community.
READ MORE: Extreme Weather Response beds no longer available at Salvation Army in Maple Ridge
ALSO RELATED: Site found in Maple Ridge for Emergency Weather Response shelter
The city reached out to a number of organizations to pull this essential service together, noted Armstrong, Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue drew on resources from the city’s Emergency Operations Plan and delivered cots, food, and bedding to the church.
Representatives from Non Judgement Recovery, Alouette Addictions, and the city’s Community Safety Officers (CSOs) converged on the facility to get the resources delivered by the city’s emergency response team set up. The group then hit the streets, looking for homeless people to bring to the shelter on the first night.
Rob Theissen, with the Hope For Freedom Society, also offered his services, working with the city to ensure the shelter could operate throughout the cold weather spell.
First responders from all agencies, the city’s CSOs, and other social service agencies continued with outreach to ensure that unsheltered citizens were aware of the emergency beds and transported people to the site, added Armstrong, noting there were no serious problems reported.
BC Housing said they are still working to finalize a non-profit operator for the program.
“We hope to have this shelter up and running as soon as possible. We will update the community when plans are finalized,” spokesperson Darren Harbord said on behalf of the agency.
“It was incredible to see how quickly our team moved to get the shelter set up overnight – from setting up cots to reaching out and bringing people in from the cold. I want to thank our staff and community partners who stepped up to get this done in very short order,” said Ruimy, adding he is”very pleased” the city is working with BC Housing to find a more long-term solution for the rest of the winter season.
Anyone looking to help, make a donation, or offer their services can contact Rob Thiessen at robcthiessen@gmail.com.
Is there more to the story? Email: cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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