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For the second week in a row, Tuesday comes with some great news for Kelowna’s homeless population.
A new temporary winter shelter is opening at 1265 Ellis Street and is expected to be ready to take people in late December or early January.
It will provide around 20 beds when it first opens, but that number could grow to 40 if additional volunteers are identified.
The shelter will be operated by the Welcome Inn, a largely volunteer-based group that is opening this shelter in partnership with BC Housing.
An experienced staff will head up those efforts and are currently hiring volunteers to help with day-to-day operations.
Only people over the age of 19 will be able to stay at this 24/7 shelter, which will allow drug use in a designated area that would be monitored by staff and require the safe disposal of needles.
“The goal is to provide stable shelter/housing, and then work with people to promote recovery and well-being,” says a release from BC Housing.
“If we exclude people with substance use issues, they would remain on the street with deteriorating health.”
The shelter will provide guests with daily meals, storage for their belongings, washrooms and amenity space.
Those types of operational costs, the current renovations and the lease are all being funded by BC Housing.
The Welcome Inn shelter will close on March 31, 2020.
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