The Mustard Seed in downtown Kamloops says it helped a lot of people this winter before its emergency shelter closed on Monday.

Managing director Diane Down says between New Year’s Day and April 1st, the non-profit had 1,751 overnight stays at its mat shelter.

“Obviously not 1,750 people, but we offered 1,751 beds over the course of January to the end of March. Double that for meals, because in addition to the lunch we serve everyday we were also serving breakfast and dinner to those folks.”

Down says the shelter also had 944 people who stayed overnight but didn’t sleep at the facility.

“Either the mats were full and we were still able to offer them a warm place to come in. Or, interestingly, there were a lot of folks who didn’t want to access a mat but they still wanted to be inside. And so that speaks I think to the complexity of the homelessness issue; one solution does not serve all.”

Down says she expects the emergency shelter will be back up and running next winter, but says that ultimately depends on what the need for housing will be at that point.