NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2009HSD0089-000774 December 17, 2009

Ministry of Housing and Social Development

 

PROVINCE PROVIDES $37,000 GRANT TO KELOWNA WINTER SHELTER

 

KELOWNA – The Province is providing a $37,000 grant to the Inn from the Cold shelter to cover operating costs and allow them to continue to provide winter shelter, Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thomson announced today.

 

            “Since 1999, the Inn from the Cold volunteers have been ensuring that homeless individuals in our community have had a place of refuge during the coldest months of the year,” said Thomson. “The Province recognizes the efforts of this dedicated group and will help cover its operating costs through the end of March 2010.”

 

            Inn from the Cold began in 1999 as a faith-based group of volunteers dedicated to providing shelter during the winter months. Today, it is a volunteer-based registered society that continues to respond to the needs of the homeless and does not turn anyone away.

 

Inn from the Cold offers 35 beds in downtown Kelowna, providing a warm, safe, low-barrier environment for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The shelter also serves breakfast and dinner on a daily basis.

 

            “Our community volunteers and local supporters have shown that they believe in the work that we are doing to support the homeless,” said Tyler Gingrich, president of the Inn from the Cold Society. “This provincial funding will ensure that we can operate on a daily basis till the end of March at our new location. Renovation costs needed to bring the building up to code had put a lot of strain on our resources, and now we can focus on what we do best.”

 

            The provincial budget for emergency shelters is approximately $56 million in 2009-10. There are over 1,500 emergency shelter beds in B.C. funded through the Emergency Shelter Program, compared to approximately 700 in 2001.

 

            In 2009-10, the Province’s budget for social housing is approximately $450 million, more than three times as much as in 2001.

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Media Contact:   Fergus McCann

                            BC Housing

                            778 452-6445

 

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