City of Vancouver opens three drop-in sites to help those escaping freezing weather

However, there's still not much available for those living on the West Side

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      Homeless people in Vancouver will have three more refuges from the cold, starting today.

      That's because the City of Vancouver is opening up warming centres for tonight at Britannia Community Centre (1739 Venables Street), Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main Street), and the West End Community Centre (870 Denman Street).

      "These drop-in sites accept men, women, pets, bikes, and carts. Hot beverages and snacks are available. No reservations are required," the city says.

      The temperature is expected to fall to -2° C tonight and tomorrow morning.

      Britannia will be open from 9 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.

      Carnegie will be open from 11:15 p.m. to 7 a.m.

      The West End Community Centre will be open from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

      Carnegie and the West End Community Centre will also be open on Sunday and Monday nights (December 31 and January 1) over the same hours.

      While this move will help homeless people living downtown and on the East Side, it's not going to do much for people living rough on the city's West Side.

      The lack of services for homeless West Side residents has been chronicled in the past by the Straight's homeless blogger, Stanley Q. Woodvine, who spends most of his time in the Fairview neighbourhood.

      Earlier this year, he reported that a former warming centre at St. Mark's church at 1805 Larch Street in Kitsilano will not be available this winter as an extreme weather response homeless sheter.

      Woodvine also reported that the Tenth Avenue Alliance Church at 11 West 10th Avenue is also not on the list of this winter's extreme weather response shelter. It's in Mount Pleasant and is more accessible to West Side homeless people than facilities in the Downtown Eastside or farther east.

      Update:

      The City of Vancouver said on New Year's Eve that Britannia and Carnegie will not be open on Monday (January 1) nights because the weather forecast does not meet the warming-centre threshold of “feels like -5° C”.

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