Inn from the Cold is open for another winter season in Kelowna providing a place for people who find themselves homeless to spend the night. Credit: Contributed

Kelowna homeless shelter facing eviction gets one-month reprieve

KELOWNA – A local homeless shelter facing eviction at the end of September has been given another month before it has to leave.

The society has not been able find a replacement shelter space, Inn from the Cold director Jan Shulz said in a press release, despite a community-wide campaign and a pledge to minimize the shelter’s impact on the surrounding neighbourhood.

Shulz claims Kelowna’s homeless street population will increase by 25 per cent if the 45-bed shelter cannot be replaced by Nov. 1.

The current Sutherland Avenue homeless shelter has been the source of some local complaints to bylaw and Shulz says a space in an industrial area away from downtown would be their preference.

Inn from the Cold will continue to offer its other programming from a downtown office, regardless of what happens with the shelter, she added.

The shelter is funded by B.C. Housing which also funds the Cornerstone Emergency Shelter on Leon Avenue.

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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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