A one-of-a-kind facility that provides showers and laundry for homeless people in Surrey, B.C., is closing, leaving hundreds of people who rely on it wondering what they will do to stay clean.
The Cove Healthy Living Facility, operated by the Surrey Urban Mission, opened in November 2022, with a one-time funding grant from the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
That money has now run out, and neither the City of Surrey nor the provincial government has stepped up to fill the funding gap.
Dawn Horn, who said she uses the site almost every day, said there’s nothing in the city to take its place.
“This is where we can shower and get clean laundry if we are living outside, and most of us down here are. It really sucks,” she said.
“Even just using a bathroom around here is next to impossible. At least we had here, and now it’s closing down.”
The Cove saw about 40,000 visits in 2023, providing a safe, warm and dry place for people experiencing homelessness to get clean, have a coffee or something to eat in a dignified way.
Cleaning and staffing the facility costs about $75,000 per month.
“It’s very sad. I think this was the only place which has these kinds of services. I don’t know what is going to happen now to all these people,” community connection worker Nav Kaur told Global News.
“This was the lowest barrier facility because most of the shelters have higher restrictions for people … this was a facility where anyone can come in and even those who are banned from other shelters can come in here and have their snack and coffee and stuff.”
The facility is slated to close permanently at 9 p.m. Monday.