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After an outcry from concerned citizens wondering where daytime warming shelters are for the unhoused, the City of Nanaimo has announced a year-round daytime drop-in hub set to open next month.

Operated by Island Crisis Care Society (ICCS) in partnership with Nanaimo Family Life Association (NFLA) the drop-in hub will offer a space for those unhoused in the community to find shelter during the day in all forms of weather.

The drop-in hub will be located at 55 Victoria Road with the entrance to the space being off Nicol Street. It is expected to open on January 2, 2025, running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

The year-round hub will also allow all people to access essential services and connections to community resources.

The daytime hub is being funded by the City of Nanaimo with funds from the federal government’s Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy program.

Along with the new drop-in daytime hub that will be opened year-round, the Nanaimo Family Life Association is working on opening an overnight shelter for those unhoused at the same location.

CHLY spoke with NFLA Executive Director Deborah Hollins, about the overnight shelter they are working on opening.

With funding from BC Housing to open a temporary overnight shelter, Hollins said they are in the final budgetary discussions with BC Housing to receive the funding to open the shelter from January 6 until March 31.

The overnight shelter will be at the location of the daytime drop-in hub.

“​​So the hub will have two components; there'll be ICCS, which is the drop-in center for folks experiencing homelessness where they can go get warm or, in the summertime, cool off and access services,” Hollins said. “Then at seven o'clock, NFLA will open up the shelter portion, where people can come and find a bed for the night. They will be given a meal in the evening and then a meal when they leave in the morning. We will also provide them with services so they can have a warm place to sleep in the evening. But that portion of the project closes on March 31.”

Hollins said this new hub is great news for Nanaimo as the city needs more shelter space for those experiencing homelessness in the city.

“When you have shelter beds that are accessible to folks, you can also connect them to services, you can ensure that they are safe in the evening time, you can address their hygiene needs,” she said. “So it is just so important that there are ample beds in our community for people who need those beds. While we are waiting for housing to be built and established in our community, people need somewhere to sleep, and currently in Nanaimo, there just are not enough shelter beds. So this is just a little bit of a boost to our numbers.”

But as this news comes out, a group of concerned citizens said this new hub opening next month is still not enough.

For the last two weeks, a group of concerned citizens have been rallying outside Nanaimo City Hall trying to get the City of Nanaimo to open a daytime warming centre.

CHLY met with some members of this group following the announcement of the daytime drop-in hub.

Gretchen Brown said she does not understand why the hub isn’t opening until January as this space has been needed for the community for a while now.

“I met a young man yesterday, whose feet were wet from the day before, people are actually getting sick and dying,” Brown said.

With the date set for the hub to open on January 2, Brown said she thinks it is unbelievable that people will still have to brace for the weather and be outside for the next two weeks.

“Two weeks where people are going to be outside, they could die in those two weeks. That's reality if you're wet and cold,” Brown said.

Judith Guy said they worry that the proposed 20-30 spots the hub can house will not be enough to help the whole population of those experiencing homelessness in the community. 

According to the 2023 Point-in-Time Count over 500 people experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo were accounted for.

“But I think what's happening is the real focus on building permanent housing is kind of eroding some of what would be needed right now on the front line, and it's like everything else,” Guy said. “The minute you invest in prevention you have to double load it–you have to pay for the results, for lack of prevention, and then you have to pay for the cost of prevention,