My Christmas break was unlike any I’ve had before. I spent it serving meals, laundering mountains of bedding, sorting and giving away donations of socks, touques, and blankets, pouring countless cups of coffee and hot chocolate, injecting Naloxone into people who overdosed on stairwells and in bathrooms, and playing tetris with mattresses to see if we can find enough floor space for just one more. I work in a homeless shelter that runs an Emergency Weather Response (EWR) program. As temperatures dipped to lows of nearly -12°C, the shelter filled up with people escaping the cold.
The EWR program is funded and managed by BC Housing, and it allows shelters to expand their normal bed capacity so that more people can come inside and access services during bouts of extreme weather. This program is a temporary solution to provide safety and comfort to homeless individuals whose health is being threatened by extreme weather conditions. Extreme weather shelters are a short-term crisis response that essentially keeps people from freezing to death.
In 2009, the Assistance to Shelter Act was passed by the provincial legislature that allowed community partners to issue extreme weather alerts that would open up EWR beds. The criteria for what counts as “extreme weather” is defined by each community. Abbotsford’s Extreme Weather Response Plan states that EWR beds will open up when temperatures hit 1 degrees celsius or below, when there is a significant accumulation of snow, and when there are prolonged periods of inclement weather that pose a hazard to people who live outside.
Temporary winter shelters are another program funded by BC Housing that allows shelters to increase their capacity further, and these are generally open between November 1 to April 30. This winter, there will be 1,900 temporary shelter beds and almost 360 emergency weather beds open in the province.
There are six homeless shelters and emergency weather shelters in Abbotsford that provide an official count of 135 beds. A homeless count and survey done by the Fraser Valley Regional District in 2020 determined Abbotsford’s homeless population to be 333 people. However, Pastor Ward Draper, who has been working with the unhoused population in Abbotsford for the past 18 years, says the 2020 estimate was a gross undercount, and the homeless population in Abbotsford is now closer to 500 people.
Abbotsford’s shelters are:
Lookout Housing and Health Society located at 1670 Riverside Road and 1640 Riverside Road.
Salvation Army located at 34081 Gladys Ave.
Gateway Community Reformed Church located at 2884 Gladys Ave.
Sara for Women Society located at 2317 McKenzie Road and 33264 Old Yale Road
Cyrus Centre Ministries (for youth ages 19-24) located at 2616 Ware Street.
5&2 Ministries (for seniors over 50 years old) located at 1661 McCallum Road.
On top of the record-breaking temperatures and heavy snowfall, Abbotsford’s shelters are facing compounding problems this winter, such as: the influx of a new COVID-19 variant, staff shortages and burnout, a lack of space, and a shortage of supplies.
COVID-19 caused shelters to decrease capacity in order to uphold physical distancing guidelines and reduce the chances of an outbreak. There have been recent clusters of COVID-19 cases in homeless shelters in Victoria, Kelowna, Montreal and Toronto. However, BC Housing has allowed shelters to open up more beds to accommodate EWR.
Susan Bhatti, manager of the Warm Zone shelter, expressed the internal conflict she faced as she wanted to open up more spaces and let people indoors, but at the same time knew she needed to keep her staff and long-term clients safe.
“If we just brought a lot of people inside and then [everyone] got COVID, that wouldn’t help either,” said Bhatti. “[Clients] don’t get individual rooms, they’re not isolating from each other; right now we’re just keeping them warm. We have to create safe conditions for both the staff and our clients; we can’t put them at risk like that.”
Each shelter has its own unique layout. Some shelters reside in a building that was intended to be a shelter, many others are not. Shelters typically have a few dormitory-style rooms with bunk beds or “pods” for clients who are staying longer than a few nights, with the temporary and EWR shelters consisting of fold-up cots and mattresses that are placed wherever there is an open space, be it a gym, a dining room, or another spare room. There is generally very little privacy for clients, and in spaces that are crammed full of people, tensions can run high.
“You never have enough space, we can’t keep pace,” said Pastor Ward Draper, founder and executive director of 5 & 2 Ministries. “The majority of [unhoused] people don’t like to stay at the shelter because of the environment of just chaos and stress and leaving their camps that will get stolen, torn down, destroyed.”
Many shelter managers expressed frustration over a lack of space and said they would like to see Abbotsford and the community step up and offer vacant spaces to be used to open more emergency weather shelters.
However, even if every vacant building was turned into a shelter and a bed could be given to every person who needed one, who would staff these shelters? Labour shortages and burnout are key issues that have impaired homeless shelters across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver since even before the pandemic. Front-line shelter workers experience vicarious trauma and emotional fatigue on a daily basis at their workplaces. As a shelter worker, I am a server, receptionist, security guard, first responder, housekeeper, and counsellor rolled into one, for $20 an hour.
“The challenges are staffing, burnout, violence, conflict, the list goes on,” said Draper. “There is nothing you can do for the burnout because there are not enough people to do the work.”
One of the biggest emergency weather shelters in Abbotsford that can sleep up to 30 people a night is located at Gateway Community Christian Reformed Church. This shelter is staffed primarily by volunteers, and their partners from 5 & 2 Ministries offer transportation to and from the shelter.
“Overall, the shelter has been a tremendous blessing to us as a church to be able to do this and to host the less fortunate,” said Marcel de Regt, pastor of faith formation at Gateway Church. “It’s the call of the church and it’s what we need to do.”
Gateway has seen their admissions numbers rise exponentially this winter as they welcomed 175 unique visitors to the shelter this past November. This is more unique visitors over one month than they have seen in the five years they have been operational. While the shelter is happy to open up space for those with nowhere else to stay, Regt recognized that it was challenging to admit so many new guests who lacked consistency, weren’t used to the shelter rules, and didn’t have rapport built with the staff and volunteers.
There are over 100 churches in Abbotsford; Gateway Church is the only one that has opened an emergency weather shelter. However, Central Heights Church hosts the 5 & 2 Ministries shelter in their building — the only shelter in B.C. that is specifically for homeless people over the age of 50.
“We, as an extreme weather shelter, are not going to fix their drug problems,” said Regt. “We’re not going to fix their addiction, solve their family problems; one thing we can do is give them a warm place, give them a warm cup of soup, that’s going to make a difference … A good night’s sleep does everyone good, doesn’t it?”
Many shelters have also noted a shortage of supplies to distribute to emergency weather clients and those still living in camps. Despite many generous donations from community members, shelters and other community organizations are still running out of basic supplies like sleeping bags, heaters, and hand warmers due to supply shortages.
“I just went to ground zero to hand out hand warmers and check on our friends. Everyone was out of propane and again they were burning cardboard and garbage to try and stay warm,” wrote Street Thug Barbers Abbotsford on Dec 29. “I wasn’t able to find heaters anywhere in town and many people have looked.”
“People have donated so much during this season,” said Bhatti. “But even the stores are running out of supplies ….Everything that is keeping people warm is out.”
EWR shelters exist to keep people alive until morning. They are a temporary measure applied in a time of crisis. However, let’s not forget the even larger crisis that causes these shelters to be open in the first place: BC’s housing crisis. The province needs to ensure that low-income housing and rentals are readily available and accessible. With the average cost of a one-bedroom place in Abbotsford coming to $1,100 a month, according to a survey done in 2020, this makes the prospect of permanent, long-term housing out of reach for so many.
“We’ve gotten so deep into gentrification there is no low-income housing available,” said Draper. “Just over the past years [we are] watching rental prices go from $650 a month to $1,400 a month with no sign of slowing,”
“I think one of the biggest challenges is moving forward into independent housing,” said Melissa Johnson, director of Abbotsford Cyrus Centre. “Housing is so expensive and there are so few options. If landlords have a 19-year-old living out of a shelter and they have 12 other people applying for the same space and they are middle-aged, middle-class, whoever, it’s hard to get [our youth] housed.”
There is so much you, reader, can do to keep the unhoused people in your community safe and warm this winter. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Volunteer or work with an organization who is running an EWR shelter. If you are looking for a challenging, rewarding, endlessly interesting job, try working for a homeless shelter. There are countless positions available for shelter workers on sites like Indeed, or positions listed directly on the organization’s websites. If you’re a student, there are a number of casual positions available that make it easy for you to be able to juggle both school and work.
If you aren’t looking for employment, but still want to give your time, try volunteering at one of these shelters. Gateway’s extreme weather shelter is primarily run by volunteers and could always use more.
“Have the courage to come and volunteer, spend the night with us at the shetler,” said Regt. “Just getting to know [our guests] would be the biggest step in making a difference. It’s so easy just to throw money at it or to make a pot of soup but until you get to know them and hear their stories you realize they are no different than we are; their paths are just a bit different than ours.”
Donate valuable items to shelters and organizations. Get in touch with shelters to see when and where you can drop off donations. Please be considerate of the items that you donate to adult shelters this time of year and make sure they are appropriate for the season and age of clients. It creates extra work for already overworked staff to sort through, try to find space for, and dispose of donations that are not helpful to shelter clients.
Here are some of the most valuable items I hand out every shift at the shelter, some of which I haven’t been able to give out in a while due to not having any in stock:
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- Socks. “A clean, dry pair of socks makes all the difference in the world,” a client told me on my shift last night. All your sock donations are greatly appreciated.
- Winter wear: gloves, rain and winter jackets, warm hoodies, snow pants, touques, and scarves. Emphasis here on the gloves. We are constantly running out of gloves and I am asked for them at least a dozen times a shift.
- Hand and foot warmers. These are heat-packs that stay activated for about an hour and could prevent someone from getting frostbitten.
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- Fire starters and tea-light candles. I get asked for these items more than you would expect but these short-bursts of fire are useful to warm hands when necessary.
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- Thermal sleeping bags and blankets. There will be some clients we need to turn away due to restrictions they may have or even lack of space. What’s heartbreaking is that we don’t have enough blankets to give away to people who have to stay outside.
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- Propane and heaters. Street Thug Barbers are always on the hunt for these items to distribute to those trying to stay warm outside. Get in touch with them through their Facebook page if you have any to donate.
Give out warm drinks and supplies to unhoused people yourself. Gather a group or a few friends to buy carafes of Tim Hortons coffee and hot chocolate, or make a carafe of warm drinks yourself, and bring it to where you know people will need it. Cut out the middleman and bring the supplies listed above directly to the people who need it. You could also just have a box of supplies in your car with you, ready to hand out to people you may see when you’re out and about.
Participate in the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser. On February 26, walk and raise money for the Cyrus Centre youth shelter. Choose between the 2km or 5km route starting from Sevenoaks Alliance Church, with a stop at the Cyrus Centre for snacks, hot drinks and a tour of the facility. There will be dinner and entertainment at Sevenoaks after the walk. This is an annual Canada-wide event that raises money for charities that offer services to those experiencing homelessness. Alternatively, you can also participate virtually.
This winter, as you’re warm and comfy wherever you may call home, remember how fortunate you are. So many of our fellow community members are living day-by-day and relying on resources like emergency weather shelters to stay alive. Let’s do what we can to support this vulnerable population and those working on the front lines.
Images: Niusha Naderi
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
