Tri-Cities' single permanent shelter not big enough for region's homeless during cold snap

As temperatures dip across the Lower Mainland, people experiencing homelessness in the Tri-Cities region are especially at risk. 

That's because the cities of Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam, which have about 120 people without homes according to the last count, also have only one permanent homeless shelter. The emergency shelter, 3030 Gordon, used to be able to serve up to 60 people, but now can only accommodate 45 due to restrictions around COVID-19.

Ernie Caithcart, who has spent more than three years on the streets, says he'll be moving around and staying up most of the night to keep warm during a week where temperatures on the South Coast are expected to dip 5 to 10 C below average.

"The only thing that will really get cold, then, are your feet," Caithcart told CBC News. "If you bundle them good enough and stay out of the wind, you're okay."

Normally other emergency measures would have been in place  — like the colder weather mat program — but they aren't allowed to operate this year due to safety concerns related to the pandemic.

Judy Johnson, who had run one such program out of the Trinity United Church, says they have all the supplies and volunteers in place to help people in need — but she's angry that their calls for space have gone unheeded. 

"We've said, as community members and people who work in the business of homeless people, we have said so many times, help us, find us a place, work with us, and the task force has arranged for the funds. They have the money, they have the people, they have an agency to run it," Johnson said. 

"Nothing has happened."

Polly Krier, the co-ordinator of the Tri-Cities Homeless Task Group, says it's been a very frustrating week. 

"We are no longer a sleepy little set of communities. We are definitely urban. We are seeing more homeless on the street," Krier said on CBC's On The Coast. "The bottom line is it comes down to mayor and council in all three of our municipalities ... we are having a lot of terrific conversation but we are simply not getting anyone off the street."

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart says that homelessness and housing is a provincial responsibility, and noted that Riverview Hospital, a former mental health facility owned by the province located in Coquitlam, has plenty of beds and empty space.

"It just disappoints me to see the buildings … that are being left empty during a pandemic when we desperately need some space for our homeless population," Stewart said.

But Krier says the potential of Riverview doesn't address immediate needs. 

"I also agree that Riverview does have space to house and shelter the homeless. But Riverview does not suit our immediate needs for tonight and the next four or five nights when its sub-zero. It's just not possible," she said. 

Johnson says the churches have filled a huge gap over the years, but it's time for the municipalities and the communities to step up.

"If there were a flood or a forest fire or an earthquake, I know that those gymnasiums locally that are shut down or those buildings that are closed because of COVID would be open tonight with masks and food prepared. I know. So what's the difference between some poor guy who's homeless and shivering in the bush, and some person whose house has got a damaged roof and can't live in it a few days?"