Keeping people warm, one bed at a time

• Ten new beds at Doyle Ave. shelter
• Funded by BC Housing
• Clothing donations can be dropped off at Roxby Rd. thrift store

A local shelter has added more beds to help people experiencing homelessness find warmth and comfort this winter.

Kelowna’s Gospel Mission will be adding ten more beds to their 50-bed emergency shelter in the old Courier building on Doyle Ave. This brings the total number of beds for the organization to 120.

“In the wintertime, it actually becomes a matter of life and death,” Executive Director Carmen Rempel told Kelowna10.

“People cannot be sleeping out on the street when we get sub-zero temperatures. Otherwise, we end up filling up our hospitals with folks.”

The beds were funded by BC Housing, which provides funding for all of Gospel Mission’s shelter services in Kelowna. It also provided funding for the additional staff and food services needed to accommodate more people as the beds get added to the shelter in the coming weeks.

Rempel said the organization also has outreach teams that work year-round to help people in need.

“They’re feeding people out on the streets three meals a day, but they’re also providing a connection to services,” Rempel explained.

“They’re encouraging them to go into shelter and encouraging them to attach to different partnering services that could help get them up and off the streets.”

The outreach teams also give out warm clothing, provided entirely by donations from the community. Rempel said the best items to donate are blankets, coats, and men’s pants and boots.

Items can be dropped off at the Roxby Rd. thrift store, where they will be processed and sent out.