Cold and windy was how Kelowna’s homeless described the first night at their new outdoor shelter location, located at a park beside Kelowna’s curling club.
“The wind was quite high, I was warm and dry for the most part,” Stiles Boylan, a homeless man, told Global News on Wednesday morning. “A lot of people’s tents blew over and collapsed, so I had a few people bunk up with me.”
It was a chilly night, with lows reaching -2 C and winds reaching up to 35 kilometers per hour.
With the forced move only being a day before, many Leon Avenue campers were left wondering why they had to move in the first place.
One homeless man told Global News that he was confused why everyone was forced to leave. He said it was convenient that they were right beside their meal source and resources.
He also mentioned that he felt like the campers were not hurting anyone and that they made sure of staying away from open businesses.
One homeless woman was quite upset with the forced move from Leon Avenue.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all,” said Gee Thompson. “How would the officers, bylaw and the people who have homes like it if we went to their homes and told them to pack up, everyday at nine o’clock?
“We have nowhere to go.”
She also told Global News that it’s unreasonable to ask the homeless to pack up every day with the inclement weather.
“We shouldn’t have to tear down at all,” she said. “It’s our warmth and it’s so cold today.”
While two locations were allocated for the homeless to set up temporary shelters, the park at the base of Knox Mountain was left empty.
“I heard a few people went to check it out, hardly anyone there,” said Boylan. Yeah, it would be too cold there anyways.”
The homeless and Kelowna’s Curling Club are now direct neighbours.
The club understands how complex the issue is, and they have only good things to say about the city and their new next-door neighbours.
“Hey, so we got some new neighbours; we don’t greet them with a sharp stick. We went over and to see what’s going on,” says Jock Tyre, general manager of Kelowna’s Curling Club.
“It’s not as scary as people are making it out to be.”
Tyre said while it was unexpected, the club understands the city has had to make some tough decisions.
“It’s a little shock for us at first,” said Tyre. “We didn’t really get any notification ahead of time, but the city has done everything they can to make it a really good situation over there for a bad problem.”
According to B.C. law, when there is insufficient housing and shelter space for people experiencing homelessness, the city may not prohibit all of its parks and public spaces for shelter spacing.