Kamloops shelter ‘won’t turn anyone away’ during current extreme weather response: executive director

KAMLOOPS – An extreme weather response remains in effect to deliver shelter to those who need it the most during the cold nights in Kamloops.

Executive director of the Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association Christa Mullaly issued the alert around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, Nov. 18, after a forecasted low temperature of -7 Celsius overnight.

When an alert is in effect, the association is committed to accepting everyone who arrives at the Emerald Centre in need of emergency housing.

“We won’t turn anyone away,” Mullaly says.

If and when temperatures change, the centre will rescind the alert. For now, Mullaly expects it to be in effect until this weekend.

“The weather changes so quickly. We check it every couple of hours,” she says.

Since temperatures began to drop, Mullaly says clients access the centre regularly. On nights without an extreme weather warning, she says staff had to turn away clients because they were full.

The Emerald Centre, which has separate spaces for men and women, is located at 271 and 275 West Victoria St.

While the Emerald Centre is the designated shelter during an extreme weather alert, the Out of the Cold shelter located at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 360 Nicola St. is available two nights a week. That shelter begins intake at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday nights.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.