While the city is concerned and is working on doing what they can to support the unhoused in the community, Williams Lake is not worse off than other communities in the Interior.
This is the message from Beth Veenkamp, economic development officer for the city of Williams Lake.
“It’s sad,” said Veenkamp, noting it keeps her up at night, but she said there are options in Williams Lake for those who need services.
“There’s beds, there’s food every day,” said Veenkamp, adding there are two really good options available for people in Williams Lake.
Veenkamp said the unhoused in the community who choose to walk in the door of either the Cariboo Friendship Society or the Hamilton Hotel will get services, which include food and a bed.
The Cariboo Friendship Society, which provides shelter beds for many, has been providing these services for decades in the community. This shelter is funded by the Aboriginal Housing Fund.
However, the rules around the shelter do limit some people from being able or wanting to access services there, like those with pets and couples wishing to remain together. The facility has both a curfew and separate women’s and men’s spaces.
This and increasing numbers of those needing housing was part of what created the demand for an alternative, which she said the Hamilton Hotel has been able to fill, a facility operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association Cariboo Chilcotin Branch. The Hamilton was opened as an emergency low-barrier shelter in December of 2021 and will remain operational through this winter said Veenkamp.
She said both facilities are open to whomever wants to access their services.
“They’re both trying very hard in this very difficult space,” she said, noting having a choice is something our community has over many others.
“Both operators will tell you very firmly that the folks that we’ve got right now behind the Station House, for instance, they are choosing that,” she said, they are not banned. She said this will likely shift as temperatures drop.
“It’s just so complex,” she said, noting we need more health supports as well.
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is also providing support and outreach to help connect people to shelter if they want it and other resources.
There is a Housing First Coordinator and a Homeless Outreach Coordinator. Housing outreach includes trying to bring people in to housing and encouraging people in to get supports which include daily meals, laundry and meeting with a worker.
The housing first person works specifically to find people housing if they want it.
There are 30 beds available at the Hamilton, and Veenkamp said if it was going to be -40C tomorrow and 37 people came in needing a bed for the night, they would make it work.
She said it has been difficult for the operator of the shelter at the Hamilton Hotel struggling to keep up with individual rooms, which was more critical during the worst of the pandemic. Now, the operator is moving to have more of the facility operate like a traditional shelter with group lodging.
Those who are stable, don’t disturb the peace.
Veenkamp said the council is advocating for more supportive housing in Williams Lake and pushing for faster movement from the province on approvals for housing projects.
She said city taxpayers are not meant to pay for building supportive housing or fund shelters, that is BC Housing’s job.
“We will partner and support and try to provide land, and do all the things that municipalities are meant to do,” she said, to address the problem where they can.
“It’s tough, it’s really tough moving this needle,” she said.
Temperatures are forecasted to dip below zero overnight this week.
With files from Monica Lamb-Yorski.
