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40 residents of the Welcome Inn temporary winter shelter in Kelowna are gloomily counting the days. As stated from the time it opened, the plan is to close the shelter, and others, at the end of March. For those currently staying there, the question is: What next?
The manager on duty at the Welcome Inn on Wednesday is Chelsea. We asked her what the people there have to look forward to and her answers were not encouraging.
"As far as what happens next," she said. "We're working very closely with the other shelters and with BC Housing to try and work on transition plans for our residents."
For some, there are some good possibilities being explored. "To see who may be getting supportive housing or if they can find market housing." But not everyone will fall into those categories. "There's not a magic plan right now," added Chelsea. "There's people today that have asked me that question, 'where do I go next', and I don't have an answer."
Troy Leavitt has stayed intermittently at the Welcome Inn, he says there are few good options for those people. "Right now, they're trying to get Tent City back up and running," said Leavitt, referring to the temporary overnight sheltering area set aside off Recreation Avenue. "It's going to be scary," he said.
The RCMP member who is most acquainted with Kelowna's downtown crowd is Sgt. Greg Woodcox. In an interview we posted yesterday, he expressed concerns about what will happen after the end of March when the shelters close.
"If they close," said Woodcox, "they really have nowhere to go because the shelters down here, the Cornerstone and the Gospel Mission are already full. So the only other option is to go to the street or find somewhere else to camp that's safe."
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