While the search for a new homeless shelter is still underway, the old employment centre in Sechelt is no longer a contender – it was torn down on March 14.
Eleonora Molnar of the Sunshine Coast Homelessness Advisory Committee said her group tried hard to get the funding and land needed to move the building to a new location after the Sechelt Nation offered it to the committee for free late last year.
“I went to every place I could find to try to find a new location for the building. The issue was the lead time was too short to move it somewhere and then the other issue of where to put it and then the moving costs,” Molnar said.
“Trying to buy a piece of land within a couple of months’ time and get the zoning and get the approvals to move it was all very short-sighted.”
The Nation offered the building to the committee in December last year but stipulated it had to be moved by February because other construction was set to take place on the site along Highway 101, across from McDonalds.
“They were really gracious to offer it to us, but the short amount of time we were given was just not reasonable,” Molnar said.
The current cold weather shelter in Sechelt is run out of the annex building at St. Hilda’s Anglican Church, but the space is too small for the number of clients who now access it nightly. The space is also used by the church for other functions, so a building solely dedicated to the shelter is needed.
RainCity Housing, which staffs the current homeless shelter, the homeless advisory committee and BC Housing have been in discussions about securing funding and a facility to house the homeless shelter going forward, but no one’s able to announce anything yet.
“We have been in discussions with BC Housing. They are aware of the situation and we’re actively trying to pursue our options,” Molnar said.
She’s hopeful there will be some good news to share soon.
The current cold weather shelter runs until the end of April and the new season starts in November, which is when a new shelter location will be needed.
