Metro Vancouver braces for more ice and snow
Homeless try to stay warm between closing of night shelters and opening of day facilities
David Van der Melen has a trick for staying warm on winter mornings when he is kicked out of an emergency shelter for the day in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“I’d ride the bus out to Horseshoe Bay for a couple of hours,” to stay warm and dry when the weather turns nasty, he said. “It is better than freezing.” Van der Melen, who recently found a temporary SRO room in a hotel, recalls how the shelters usually get people up at 6 a.m. After a meal and shower, they are out on the street for the day, often by 7 a.m.
He said there are a number of daytime drop-in spots in the gritty part of Vancouver, but many open at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.
“There are drop-in shelters for the day, but they are closed early in the morning,” said Van der Melen, a co-ordinator with the Downtown Eastside Market.
In the past, he said, some would hop on a SkyTrain to stay warm, but with security and the new fare system, that’s no longer an option.
Outside the Carnegie Centre Wednesday, Wayne Bennett said life on the streets has been tough during this cold snap. He is homeless and spends his nights in a nearby alley, waiting for the Carnegie to open at 9 a.m. to get inside and warm up.
“It is really cold at night. You stay up because it is so cold, and you wait for the places to open up in the morning,” he said.
Some of his friends who live on the street have already been hospitalized with serious cold-related illnesses.
“The cold feeling stays with you all day,” he said.
One of the places offering warmth, a hot drink and drug counselling is the Hastings Street location of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).
President Laura Shaver said the cold has caught many off guard.
“We are getting a lot of people coming in to warm up,” she said. “It is colder than people are used to.”
The cold snap is now an additional concern to her while they try to help residents falling victim to the fentanyl contamination of the crimeplagued area’s drug supply.
VANDU’s drop-in centre is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but Shaver would like to stay open longer.
“We have been talking about staying open longer due to the crisis on the streets,” she said.
VANDU has been busy training people on how to use Naloxone antidote kits to help someone who has gone into a coma from a fentanyl overdose. She said VANDU will allow people under the influence to use their facility as long as they behave, unlike some other facilities. “We accept everybody,” she said. “They are welcome to come in and access our services. We just had a guy who came in and he said his hands were frozen.”
At the Hastings Street Union Gospel Mission, there have been extended hours so people can stay inside after the dinner meal. Spokesman Derek Weiss said they have been full, with 72 beds and 11 mats on the floor for people staying in the emergency overnight shelter.
In the morning, shelter guests can have a shower and hot breakfast before they have to leave for the day. Weiss said they give people a list of all the area’s daytime drop-in shelters so they can stay out of the cold.
“We make sure they know about the other resources out there,” he said. “Some of the daytime places are opening up a little earlier with the cold.”