As cold sets in, shelters open beds, brace for worst

Rev. Al Tysick was on his usual early-morning rounds checking on the city’s street homeless when he saw a man sitting on a bench at a bus stop at the corner of Fort and Vancouver streets.

“I thought he was sleeping. His legs were crossed and his head was down,” said Tysick, executive director of the Dandelion Society. “But when I touched him, he was hard as a rock and ice cold. … He was dead.”

Tysick said he did not recognize the man, who appeared to be in his 50s or 60s, and did not know if he was homeless. He said it was very likely people drove or walked by him that morning not knowing that he had died or if he had been in distress.

It’s not the first time Tysick has found someone dead on the street in the morning and he doesn’t think it will be the last. The cold and wet onset of the winter season this week is a reminder of that, he said.

“The shelters will be full and people will be on the street,” said Tysick. “If I couldn’t face death, I couldn’t do what I do. Some of the people I help are barred from shelters and organizations, deservedly so, which is why Dandelion’s outreach on the street is important.”

Tysick said he’s stocking up on tents, socks and blankets to give out.

Victoria’s Extreme Weather Protocol, which opens up emergency shelter beds, was initiated on Nov. 1 due to cold and wet weather and is currently in effect. Snow flurries, showers and overnight temperatures near freezing are in the forecast for southern Vancouver Island.

Between 325 and 430 emergency shelter beds are available for youth and adults at various organizations on nights that weather conditions pose a threat to the lives and health of those living outside.

Last year, the protocol was enacted 53 times from November to the end of March — with about 250 people seeking shelter each of those nights and facilities operating at 90 to more than 100 per cent capacity. The year prior, the protocol was enacted 38 times.

Joann Connolly from Cool Aid Society said 35 people showed up looking for a bed Nov. 1 at the emergency shelter at the Downtown Activity Centre on Pandora Avenue.

“That’s a very busy night for the start of the season,” she said. “I looked at the list and saw some familiar names, but there were a lot of newcomers as well.”

Connolly said she thinks it will be a busy year for seasonal homeless shelters because of the extreme weather predicted and increasing need across the region. “I’ve already had two calls from the Sidney area from people looking for resources there,” she said.

Cool Aid’s Rock Bay Landing will reopen its mat program for the winter after closing it for several months to build up staff and internal resources.

Our Place Society on Pandora Avenue operates one of the few warming areas and late evening drop-ins for the Extreme Weather Protocol program.

The organization usually has about 30 mats to offer as well, but is now scrambling to find space for them. It’s contacting nearby churches and groups that might have space and looking at the possibility of opening a seasonal shelter in what was once My Place — a transitional shelter in the old Boys and Girls Club on Yates Street that housed homeless people from the tent city encampment on the courthouse lawn last year.

All three of the organizations said they are looking for donations of socks, blankets, winter wear and rain gear.