Out of the Cold

Trinity United Church
January 8 – March 31

Written and Presented by Karen Shannon for Town of Creston Council

The Out of the Cold Program (hereafter referred to as “The Den”) was started by the Trinity United Church as an emergency measure to provide shelter for Creston’s unhoused population, and their pets, from January 8 until March 31, 2024.

As a result of the Town of Creston agreeing to lease the building to us free of charge, The Den was operated at 128 10th Avenue North. The Den had a maximum occupancy of 9 people sleeping within the residence. BC Housing funded 6 beds from February 1 until March 31, 2024.

This was a medium barrier facility, which meant that while residents did not need to be abstaining from substance use in order to gain entry, at no time were substances or their use permitted within the shelter.

Services Provided:

• The Den was open every night from 7pm until 9am, running from January 8 until March 30, 2024.
• We provided access to three meals a day: breakfast before they left for the day, access to sack lunches that they could take with them, and hot dinners upon entry for the night.
• The Den had three showers available for the residents, provided a change of clothing when necessary, and had laundry facilities available.
• The residents could watch movies, play board and card games, and could interact with each other and with the staff.
• Helping clients make significant changes was very limited because this was an emergency shelter only open during nighttime hours. This is something that the Creston Valley Den Society plans to change when a permanent shelter is open.

Staffing:

• The Den had two staff on shift at all times. The residence was equipped with a panic button and security cameras, both set up and monitored by Peak Security out of Cranbrook.
• Evening employees worked the first four hours of the shift, and overnight staff worked the rest of the night. There was a 15-minute overlap for staff to exchange information.
• The staff worked hard to gain the trust of unhoused clients. Building rapport is critical in this type of work, as our clients have often faced negative treatment in the community, making it difficult for them to trust.
• We went through some growing pains with staffing. However, by the end, we had a competent team of ten staff. It was difficult laying off this crew due to the closure. We hope that when the Creston Valley Den Society opens a more permanent shelter, we are lucky enough to have members of this group reapply for the positions that will be available.

Our Clientele:

• We had 12 men and 5 women sleep at the Den during this three-month period.
• The Den had 6 men and 3 women who were considered regulars.
• Other community members living with barriers utilized the Den to have a meal, shower, clean up, or to talk with the staff.
• Clients entered the Den through word of mouth, staff outreach, and referrals from the hospital and the RCMP.
• Our clients ranged from 19 years old to several senior citizens.
• The vast majority of clients using the Den were either born and raised in this area or have called Creston home for a significant amount of time.
• BC Housing provided occupancy rates for their six beds: February’s occupancy rate was 64%, while March’s occupancy rate was 131%, indicating that the Den used the full six beds and some of the three overflow beds at the time of closing the facility.

Financials:

* Subject to change in case of additional billing from third parties.
** $(457) adjustment from Worksafe BC not reflected at time of accounting.
*** Please note that the surplus funds will be transferred to the Creston Valley Den Society to assist with any future emergency shelter. While the Trinity United Church provided countless volunteer hours getting the shelter up and running, as well as during its operation, none of the profits will remain with the church.

Successes:

• The Den opened right before Creston was hit with extreme weather conditions, which included temperatures lower than -30°C in conjunction with a wind storm.
• The Trinity United Church opened its doors during the daytime hours to give clients an option to get out of the cold during that extremely cold week, while The Den provided nighttime shelter. Given this unprecedented cold spell, it is a huge success that we did not have serious harm come to any of our unhoused clients, or their pets.
• Den staff received training from medical staff to administer Naloxone kits.
• Fortunately, these kits never needed to be used within the shelter.
• Several staff members were trained in utilizing BC Housing’s HIFIS Data Collection.
• No major incidents happened at the shelter. While the police were contacted a couple of times, there were never any emergency calls or critical incidents.
• To our knowledge, the police did not note any resident calls to the Den, nor any increase in calls to the often-utilized daytime encampment at the church.

Challenges:

• Some of the clients who utilized the Den struggled with addiction issues, while others dealt with mental health and developmental issues.
• One of the challenges we faced as a shelter was clients leaving the facility during the night and returning under the influence of substances. This is not an unusual situation for shelters. Staff monitored clients very regularly throughout the night (no more than 30 minutes between visual checks). The staff increased the frequency of these checks with intoxicated clients to ensure their safety. No overdoses happened during the period that the Den was opened, but all staff were trained in emergency procedures to be ready.
• With the Den only being open at night, clients did not have safe places to go during the daytime hours. The tents remained at Trinity United Church, and other clients hung out in the downtown core during the day. This is a challenge we hope to address with the future homeless shelter.