Homeless shelter in Kitsilano to open tomorrow

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Starting tomorrow Kitsilano will have it’s own emergency homeless shelter – the fourth and final new HEAT facility to open this winter in Vancouver.

The new 40-bed facility will be in the old Disc Imaging location at 1642 West 4th Avenue, between Pine and Fir Streets, right next to the Mantra Condos. This is considered a  low-barrier operation, meaning residents can bring pets and shopping carts with them.

The previous three HEAT (Homeless Emergency Action Team) shelters established this winter are in Mount Pleasant, Granville Street and the West End. Along with three previous HEAT shelters opened in late 2008, they provide a total of 500 temporary emergency shelter beds which will stay open until April 30th.

The Kitsilano shelter will be operated by the Motivation, Power and Achievement Society (MPA), which has provided supported housing and mental health outreach in the area for 38 years, according to a press release issued by Vancouver city hall. The 24-hour-a-day shelter will serve two meals daily and has a bed reservation system to reduce line-ups outside its doors.

Last modified: January 14, 2010

7 Responses to " Homeless shelter in Kitsilano to open tomorrow "

  1. Mantra Owner says:

    I spent $500K on 700 square feet in the Mantra and now I have binners as neighbours. Nuts.

  2. Frances Cabahug says:

    Well, Mantra owner, that’s not necessarily true about your neighbours being binners. Only a very small percentage of homeless people actually have enough functioning to do the work required of binning. Most of them will be dealing with mental illness, physical trauma, and concurrent disorders to the point that they aren’t mobile or cognizant enough to gather everybody else’s recyclables.

    I hope the mental illness, phsyical trauma, and concurrent disorders part isn’t scaring you even more. 🙂

    No, seriously, you should try to meet your neighbours. You might be surprised.

  3. Louis says:

    Dear conveniently-anonymous Mantra Owner,

    Your lack of consideration for unlucky people is scary.
    Based on that comment, you sound rather selfish.

    Consider this, then :
    If you ever found yourself homeless (which -despite your certainties- could happen), wouldn’t you want a decent shelter?

    Am I expected to believe that your homeless self would be so full of dignity that he/she would stay out of sight, so as not to spoil the rich-folk’s landscape?

    Please stop complaining.
    You could afford a 500k apartment, for fuck’s sake.

  4. Elizabeth says:

    Good for you Mantra owner for being honest about how you feel. In this time of political correctness it’s refreshing to see someone be honest about their elitism.

    However, consider this. You live in a neighbourhood reknowned for it’s political correctness and community/health activism – from yoga studios, ngo offices, organic food stores and restaurants committed to using sustainable foods, to parent participation pre-schools, community gardens and active neighbourhood centers. I can only imagine your neighbours saying “I’ve invested years of my life into building a rich, varied and tolerant community here for my family, and now I have this social climbing elitist as a neighbour. Ugh!!”

  5. Jody says:

    I’m with Elizabeth Says. I wouldn’t want Mantra Owner for a neighbour either.

  6. anon says:

    And now what’s with the note on their front entrance complaining about a 15 story development in the neighbourhood….