A new extreme weather shelter is opening at the Crossroads Church in North Delta.
The shelter will support women seeking emergency overnight accommodation during extreme weather events.
An information report to city council notes that the need for a women-only shelter was identified by various community partners and supported by members of the Delta Opposes Violence Everywhere community planning table.
It’s a joint initiative of community partners, including the Homelessness Services Association of BC (HSABC) and City of Delta to expand emergency shelter resources in the city.
The new shelter will receive operational funding from BC Housing and will be managed by WINGS Fellowship Ministries. Delta is providing seed funding of $10,000 to assist in setting up the shelter.
WINGS also operates Delta's only transition house for women fleeing violence and has extensive experience serving vulnerable women and their children in the community.
The expected opening date for the new shelter is Feb. 27, with a soft launch several days prior.
The Delta Homelessness Committee, a coalition of community partners, reports a significant increase in referrals to the Stopping the Violence Program in Delta through the pandemic, the report notes.
In addition, Delta's transition house has had to turn away an increasing number of women looking for emergency overnight shelter, including 30 in January.
The goal is to open the new shelter to provide critical services for women during extreme weather events, until longer-term solutions are developed and implemented.
BC Housing funds the Homelessness Services Association of BC to manage the Extreme Weather Response (EWR) program in various communities including Delta.
That program supports community-based services to provide temporary emergency shelter spaces for people experiencing homelessness during periods of extreme winter weather, between October and March.
For the past several years, the Ladner United Church, in partnership with Options Community Services, has provided an overnight extreme weather shelter for homeless people in South Delta during periods of extreme snow, cold or rain.
A second extreme weather shelter facility opened in 2021, as the city worked with the Homelessness Services Association of BC and other community organizations to establish one in North Delta.
The Leadership Council of New Hope Church on 88 Avenue offered to provide that space. The 15-bed shelter is operated by Lookout Housing and Health Society.
Delta does not have 24/7 temporary shelters during the winter season.
A previous report to council notes that the seasonal nature of the EWS program also means that homeless people in Delta may be left without overnight accommodation during extreme weather events between April and September, unless they are able to access a 24/7 permanent shelter elsewhere in Metro Vancouver.
