The City of Kelowna has extended its emergency warming bus program hours t0 run 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. (from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) until Saturday when the current extreme cold weather is expected to end. In addition, City staff working with partners have secured 27 insulated tents and are currently working to have them delivered to Kelowna. More details will be released on this initiative in the days ahead.
“We are continuing to meet with community groups and individuals who are working to find more long-term solutions to help our vulnerable population during the cold months,” said Mayor Tom Dyas. “For the time being, we’re working on a number of fronts including extended warming bus hours and insulated tents to help people sheltering outside during this extreme weather event.”
Outreach efforts are also underway to ensure people living without shelter are monitored for their health and safety.
Frontline workers, including City Bylaw Services, Kelowna Fire Department, RCMP, security personnel, Downtown Kelowna Association’s On-Call team and other community outreach agencies, are vigilantly monitoring the wellbeing of people sheltering outdoors.
They are conducting welfare checks, distributing blankets, sleeping bags, tents, socks, hand/toe warmers and helping people find available shelter beds and engaging emergency health services when needed.
During extreme weather, people sheltering outside can warm up at the Parkinson Recreation Centre, the Metro Central Drop-in Centre on St. Paul Avenue and the Kelowna Downtown Library, which has a Peer Navigator on site.
An online Shelter Dashboard was launched recently to help frontline workers determine the availability of shelter spaces and direct those sheltering outdoors to those available spaces. There are 263 shelter beds currently available in Kelowna, up from 238 during the cold snap at the end of October.