Extreme Weather Response Shelter Program Not Effective, Needs An Overhaul

In BC, we have a system of emergency shelters that provide space for people with the most urgent need of a basic place to sleep. Unfortunately, there are few shelters, and most are at capacity on any given night, as seen in the Shelter Map system by StreetMessenger. The following list shows the number of permanent emergency shelters by municipalities in the South of Fraser.

Gateway of Hope in Langley City. Source: Gateway of Hope

Delta: 0
Langley City: 1
Langley Township: 0
Surrey: 9
White Rock: 0

To provide additional space in the winter months, from October 15th to April 15th, BC Housing provides limited funding for additional extreme weather response spaces when it is snowing, it rains heavily, or there are freezing temperatures.

In Delta, there are ten additional spaces for women and nine for anybody.

In Langley City, there have traditionally been 15 additional spaces for anybody.

In Surrey, there are currently 45 additional spaces for anyone.

While I don't want to get too caught up on the numbers, the main point is that given the rapid growth in the number of people who experience homelessness, the current year-round and Extreme Weather Response emergency shelter system is at capacity.

I wanted to focus on the BC Housing Extreme Weather Response program.

Over the years I've been on Langley City Council, the School District and faith-based organizations have made spaces available to host extreme weather response shelters in our community. I've observed that these spaces only last one Extreme Weather Response season and are not made available in future seasons (except the Gateway of Hope.) Some challenges with the Extreme Weather Response program included finding qualified staffing, dealing with people who have complex needs, and conflicts with other uses. I've seen that it becomes more challenging every year to find organizations willing to host an Extreme Weather Response in Langley City.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom. There is a path forward.

We all know that the province needs to ramp up housing and mental health treatment, but even with ramped-up services, we will always need emergency shelters.

At the core, we need to expand the permanent shelter network and ensure that those facilities are equipped to handle extreme summer and winter weather events. We must also ensure the shelter network has the support staff to help people with complex needs.

Smaller-scale, geographically distributed facilities ensure better outcomes for both the neighbourhoods in which they are based and the folks accessing emergency shelter services.

Frankly, emergency shelter services are needed in the Township of Langley and Delta.

Langley City Council is looking at all the gaps in our social infrastructure, including emergency shelter services. While it is a provincial responsibility to fund the emergency shelter network, we are doing our part by advocating for expanding the emergency shelter network, including advocating for the province to implement the HEART and HEARTH programs in both Langley City and Township.

The status quo isn't working, and we need provincial action to ensure the most vulnerable people in our communities can access emergency shelter services.