As the cold weather continues on Vancouver Island, BC Housing will open a second extreme weather shelter for the Parksville Qualicum Beach region.
The shelter currently at Oceanside Community Church (1420 Alberni Hwy in Parksville), operating Dec. 27 until Jan. 2, 2022, will be followed by another shelter at Knox United Church (346 Pym St. in Parksville), from Jan. 3 until Jan. 10, according to a press release by BC Housing.
The Knox shelter will operate seven days a week, starting at 8 p.m., and will have two staff on-site.
A hot dinner will be served in the evening, with breakfast available in the morning along with a bag lunch to take away. People wishing to stay overnight at the shelter can call Perry at 250-927-2717 to request transportation to the shelter.
READ MORE: Church opens doors as extreme weather shelter for Parksville Qualicum Beach area
OHEARTS and BC Housing are grateful for the support of their community partners and will continue to fund and facilitate extreme/cold weather shelters in Parksville Qualicum Beach until March 31, 2022, provided host sites can be found.
This winter season the province is providing more than 1,900 temporary shelter spaces and approximately 400 extreme weather response spaces to ensure that people experiencing homelessness can get out of the cold and rain.
Provincially speaking, there are approximately 25 per cent more shelters (emergency response/cold weather) than last year, and supplement the permanent, year-round shelters currently open in B.C.
– NEWS Staff, submitted