Are there enough shelter beds available in Quesnel ?
The answer to that question, according to those that work at those facilities, is quite simply “no.”
Sherry-Lynn Van Halderon, the Operations Manager at Seasons House, says they have 25 emergency shelter guests at capacity, 15 in rooms and 10 in the overflow area, and she says they also have 10 transitional housing unit that are upstairs.
“When it’s really hot out we have people that are more likely to sleep outside or tent it, or just kind of wander the streets at night when temperatures are more favorable. But I would say 9 times out of 10 we are packed to the brim. We definitely do have to turn people away too.”
Van Halderon says people will then have to find a place to sleep.
“They will couch surf, we’ve had people sleeping in banks, entry ways of businesses, people sleeping in cars, anywhere basically right.”
She says their clients vary.
“We have clients anywhere from ages 19 to I think our oldest person we’ve had here is about 87, male, female, people who use drugs, people who don’t, people with mental illness and people who don’t have mental illness, pretty well any type of person can come here.”
Kelly L’hirondelle, Coordinator at the Grace Inn, says they currently have capacity for 20 clients, although that number will go up once the motel is renovated.
Right now she says they are full all the time.
That adds up to roughly 55 units, and while that number will increase once the renovation happens, the latest homeless count in Quesnel in March of 2023 showed 123 people were experiencing homelessness.
The Society also operates the Bridges Supportive Housing complex that has 28 supportive housing units and 4 support and recovery units.
That facility however, houses different types of clients.
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