The province of B.C. has stepped in to give those experiencing homelessness in the Oceanside region, a safe and warm place to sleep this winter.
Eight new beds will be open between seven rotating community churches in the area, until the end of February 2020.
Earlier in the year, the City of Parksville quashed earlier plans to have an emergency weather shelter run out of it, leaving dozens still out in the cold.
Since then, the Arbutus Grove Reformed Church, Knox United Church, Oceanside Community Church, Catholic Church of The Ascension, Parksville Fellowship Bapstist Church, Christian Fellowship Centre Church, Anglican Church of St. Anne/St. Edmund, have all scrambled to fill the gap for those in need.
Now, BC Housing is partnering with the Oceanside Homelessness Ecumenical Advocacy Response Team Society, a new community-based group that has come together to operate the shelter.
“Each shelter location will provide eight beds for people in need. In addition to beds, the society will provide shelter guests with two daily meals and transportation to and from each shelter location and a pick-up point,” said the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in a release.
Shelter guests can meet at the Mt. Arrowsmith Salvation Army at 187 Alberni Hwy. daily at 5 p.m. to be taken to each shelter location.
The shelter will be open from 6 p.m. to 7:15 a.m. nightly, starting December 19.
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