Shelter urged for West Kelowna
Pastor at church that operates seasonal shelter for street people says community needs made-inWest Kelowna solution to problem of homelessness
West Kelowna needs a standalone homeless shelter, says the pastor of a church that’s already providing overnight accommodation for street people.
The number of homeless people is rising in West Kelowna along with the rest of the fastgrowing community’s population, says Rev. Jeff Bjorgan of Emmanuel Church.
“I think we need a made-in-West Kelowna solution to homelessness here,” Bjorgan said on Tuesday.
“We should have a standalone homeless shelter, not just something that a church provides,” Bjorgan said. “I know that’s not going to be a popular suggestion, because the question of course will be, where are you going to put a shelter like that?
“But West Kelowna is a city, and we have the challenges any city has,” Bjorgan said.
West Kelowna city ofÀcials say there’s been a dramatic rise in vandalism and anti-social behaviour in Westbank, and they say part of the reason is a seasonal shelter opened by Emmanuel Church on Highway 97.
“The shelter is a draw for transients, and according to the RCMP has increased the criminal element in our area,” three senior West Kelowna staffers write in a report presented Tuesday to city council.
“These are the unfortunate spinoffs from the church’s honourable, humanitarian efforts to better our community,” the managers say. Bjorgan says he was a little dismayed by “the language” in the staff report.
“I think the church is part of the solution, not the problem,” he said.
This is the Àrst full winter the church has run an overnight shelter, using funds from the provincial government. It has capacity for 20 people, but has averaged between eight and 12 clients most nights.
Far from being a new problem in West Kelowna, homelessness has long been a reality in the community, Bjorgan said.
“We’ve seen the homeless sleeping in the gullies and canyons right beside our church,” he said. “We just felt we had to do something, because there is nothing on the Westside in terms of a shelter for homeless people.
“It’s the Okanagan — transients are here, and some of them come to the church for help,” he said.
The church’s shelter program is staffed overnight, and clients have to abide by strict rules regarding noise and behaviour, Bjorgan said.
“Honestly, I think they’re a pretty quiet bunch,” he said. “I think we’re doing good work in providing this shelter.”