The Inn from the Cold Shelter has been granted a one-month moving extension.
In an email to Global News, Inn from the Cold executive director Jan Schulz confirmed that the move out day for the Sutherland Avenue shelter is now Oct. 31 and not Sept. 30 as initially planned.
“We’ve been granted a bit of a reprieve, and for that we are most grateful,” Schulz said.
The shelter was given notice to move out in the summer as the building is slated for demolition as part of re-development plans in the area.
READ MORE: Inn from the Cold desperately seeking place to lease
The move-out notice has left shelter staff scrambling to find a new location to continue helping the roughly 45 people who sleep at the shelter every night.
“No new locations have surfaced despite tremendous support from the media in getting our message out about the need for new space,” Schulz said. “We remain optimistic that new space will be found, but if not, Kelowna’s population of those living rough on the streets will spike by 25 per cent come Nov. 1.”
The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has taken on an active role in helping Inn from the Cold find a new location but so far has been unsuccessful.
“I’ve contacted local developers, commercial realtors, property managers, pretty much everyone you can think of in those industries in town,” Chamber president Carmen Sparg said. “At this stage we haven’t secured anything.”
Sparg has also put in calls to the City of Kelowna hoping some city-owned sites could be identified as potential locations. She said she is still waiting to hear back from city staff.
While the shelter will take any space at this point, the hope is for a 2,500-square-foot or larger warehouse-type facility with one large open room, preferably in an industrial part of town away from downtown.
Minimal kitchen facilities are needed and the shelter will augment on-site washroom facilities, as necessary.
A one-year lease would be ideal, the shelter stated, with the opportunity to extend.
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