The temporary winter shelter set up at the old Stuart Wood Elementary school building has been deemed a success.
The Executive Director of the Kamloops Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association says many of the less fortunate took advantage of the shelter to get out of the cold.
Speaking on the Jim Harrison show Christa Mullaly agrees with the assessment offered by Mayor Ken Christian on the need within the community for the shelter.
“We have seen 289 folks grace our threshold at Stuart Wood, which are over and above the 42 beds we have at Emerald centre. We are fully expecting by the end of the month that we will see 300 people.”
Mullaly says it cost $55,000 a month to operate the program.
“We were minimum triple staffed every night. Most nights quadruple staffed and again we are looking after up to 70 folks.”
The city of Kamloops has no intention of using the old school building again as a shelter next winter.