Members of the Den Society visited Creston Town Council at their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 to appeal for assistance as inflation is driving food costs up, putting their drop in program in jeopardy.
Board chairperson Nancy DeVuono, accompanied by a number of Den members, asked Council for a $5,000 grant to help keep the drop-in open during what is projected to be a difficult year.
The Den Society is relatively new, formed in December of 2024, to address the needs of the unhoused in Creston, particularly the need for a shelter. Efforts to establish a shelter were not successful, so the drop-in program was created to provide some basic necessities to marginalized Creston residents, including lunch six days a week out of Trinity Church.
The volunteer program has no ongoing access to government funding, relying on grants when available, and local donations. There have been precarious times in the past year, keeping the drop-in open but the Den Society has managed to do so.
“We have had an outpouring of community support,” DeVuono told Council. “We appreciate the $1500 Council gave us is 2025. We were close to closing our doors several times in 2025.”
She says there are no real supports for the unhoused in Creston, whose population includes vulnerable single women and seniors. The drop-in sees from 16 to 22 people attend daily.
Expenses in 2025 were $89,000, including $25,000 in rent to the Church.
“$7,600 of that was for food,” DeVouno said. “And if the first month of this year is any indication, we expect that amount to double in 2026.”
She says the budget for 2026, will be more in the neighbourhood of $93,000, and with grocery prices rising, more people could be coming to the drop-in.
“Last year our food costs were $23 per day,” she said. “We are proud of that. It’s really good food; food we would serve at home. The quality of food cannot be impacted by cost.”
DeVouno says that at the beginning the thought was that if they could get the shelter, the drop-in would not be necessary, but they have realized that is not realistic.
“But the drop-in has only a two hour space daily to provide for people.
“The extreme weather shelter is great, but it’s not adequate.”
This will not stop the Den Society from advocating for a permanent shelter, she said, but in the meantime, funding the drop-in is important.
“We serve a wide variety of people in an isolated valley,” she said. “There are more services in Cranbrook but our people can’t get there.”
The Society will be pursuing grants at every opportunity, Council was told but the $5000 would be very helpful.
CAO Mike Moore said that applying for that amount of money from the discretionary grant fund was difficult as those grants were usually in the area of $250 to $500. A $5000 grant from that fund wouldn’t leave much left for other requests through the coming year.
Mayor Arnold DeBoon said that staff should be consulted to come up with a way to provide the funding, since the 2026 budget had just been finalized.
“You are making a difference in this community,” he said. “We recognize that and appreciate it. Thank you for your work.
“We don’t want a large ask like this to jeopardize being able to give money for teams travelling etc.,” DeBoon said, adding it was right for the Den Society to make the request.
Council voted to refer the request to staff.
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