The wider benefit of more staff at Kelowna Gospel Mission

If you're looking for work in the social services sector, the Kelowna Gospel Mission has many vacancies to fill.

They also hope this will ease public concerns surrounding the amount of unsheltered people in the downtown.

The non-profit is hosting a job fair at Kelowna Gospel Fellowship Church at 3714 Gordon Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

A total of 22 positions are available from caseworkers, resident support workers, protection service officers, outreach workers and more. All will be primarily for their new Bay Ave. emergency shelter.

Mylene Garcia, Director of Housing and Programs, told Kelowna10 it’s critical to have enough people to help run their operations.

“For shelter services we have to make sure we’re fully staffed. It’s not just for the continuity of service, but it’s for safety as well,” she said. “We deal with the most vulnerable population, the most marginalized, some of them are dealing with addictions, comorbidities [having two or more diseases] as well.”

Garcia said the goal is to get most or all of the positions filled to ensure the best care to those who need it.

“You don’t want one person going on shift, you want to make sure there’s a partner beside them,” she said.

According to Garcia, the new shelter on Bay Ave. is shaping up nicely with all the major renovations done. They are in the final walkthrough phase but there is no timeline for a move-in date.

She added the new shelter will look to continue to address the issue of homelessness in the Bay Ave. and Ellis St. area.

“Over the last several months, there have been concerns about the increasing number of unsheltered population,” she explained. “We hope that gives the general public a bit of comfort and puts them at ease with the programs that are out here in Kelowna that are addressing our unsheltered population.”

Anyone unable to attend the job fair can apply for employment online.