Kamloops homeless man Murray Love is seen in front of a makeshift campsite in Kamloops in 2023.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Murray Love

Overnight temperatures are dropping and some members of the homeless population in Kamloops are fearful heading into winter with fewer basic resources to access than last year.

Homeless community organizer Murray Love, who is homeless himself, said there's a shortage of food, overnight beds and warm clothing available for his peers, problems exacerbated by the closure of two day-spaces earlier this year. 

“It’s getting cold at night, we’re in need,” Love told iNFOnews.ca. “The guys right now are crying for clothes, warm footwear and winter coats. There’s nothing out there for men’s clothes, I was running around in shorts for a week.”

At the end of July, The Loop resource centre on the North Shore closed after the property it sits on was purchased, and the Mustard Seed day space downtown closed its doors to drop-ins.

The City of Kamloops has been working with non-profits and BC Housing to create an access hub on the North Shore with wrap around services to fill in the gaps but while the initial goal was to open the hub before winter, the opening date is unclear. 

Alfred Achoba, executive director for the Kamloops branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, sits on the city’s Access Hub Leadership Committee.

“Its starting to get cold, there are definitely concerns for everyone around making sure we can mobilize quickly and have a place for people to go," Achoba said. “I’m not aware of any news around the access hub and like everyone else we’re concerned there has been no news.”

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He said the challenge with the access hub has to do with healthcare services.

“Providers are skeptical of running programs without adequate health supports, there are health gaps, it’s the same with the shelters,” Achoba said. “We need adequate supports and nursing, baseline supports. Until we get that no one will want to run programs where we’re not seeing results."

He's currently looking at existing CHMC programs and increasing capacity to help fill in the gaps, alongside other non-profits while the hub is delayed.

“There is a health piece and we have an (Interior Health Authority) whose mandate is to step up with supports, we have to have those health pieces tied in (for the access hub). If not, we’re just talking about running a winter shelter.”

With overnight temperatures dropping, Love said the city isn’t providing enough help fast enough. 

“Winter is coming and there’s no place for people to go,” he said. “The day space closures add stress on things. They had provided hot meals, a place to warm up, a safe place to nap. We feel attacked.” 

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Love typically tries to get a bed at the Out of the Cold shelter in downtown Kamloops where 25 beds are available, but he said there are not enough beds to meet the need and people are often turned away.

In January last year temperatures got dangerously low and shelters were quickly filled to over capacity. It’s a scenario that happens many times every winter but never seems to be addressed.

There are roughly 177 available beds at the shelter level in Kamloops, which doesn’t include longer-term beds such as those offered at Moira House, and the last point in time count of the unhoused population was 331.

During past winters, homeless people in Kamloops have suffered frost bite injuries, hypothermia and pneumonia, and some people have died.

In January 2023, homeless woman Erica Stefan died outside in the elements but the details surrounding her death remain unclear. In March of last year, Rick Greenstone died out in the cold in Kamloops after living in a tent all winter. He had trouble accessing services. In November 2021, a homeless man in a wheelchair known on the streets as Sam Mack died outside in the elements.

“Hopefully we won’t lose people to exposure this year because of not enough warm places to rent or stay at,” Murray said.

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Former city counsellor and community activist Arjun Singh, along with a group of volunteers, have been busy collecting warm clothing for homeless people which they deliver to the Out of the Cold shelter.

“There is a need for men’s clothing, the guys are trying to wear women’s socks, the wrong sizes so we’ve been trying to help,” Singh said.

He's concerned about the the safety of the city's unhoused population during the upcoming cold months.

“Crisis management isn’t good, we need to get ahead of this,” Singh said. “We all have a part in the problem and it’s really very sad when we have people heading into cold temperatures again and we don’t have enough places for people to be inside.

“My hope is BC Housing or someone will step up, there are people who want to help but we don’t have the overall capacity to do it. It sits with the authorities. The government works so slow, we have to be faster.”

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Founder of the former The Loop resource centre Glenn Hilke operates the Kamloops Community Meal Train, a group of volunteers who stop at various places throughout the city where the unhoused gather to provide food and water.

Carmin Mazzotta is the assistant community and culture director for Kamloops. He told iNFOnews.ca in an emailed statement more information on the access hub site and temporary housing options for unhoused individuals will be released following the provincial election, and that winter shelters have been designated.

He said notification will be going out to neighbours and surrounding property owners for the winter shelter sites in coming weeks in advance of opening and the city’s Emergency Preparedness manager will bring a cold weather response report to city council on Oct. 22.

If you have warm clothing to donate, email Arjun Singh here.

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