Merritt’s new shelter providing both temporary and transitional housing
John Warren (image credit - CFJC Today)
Jan 31, 2025 | 6:24 AM
Michael Reeve
The city of Merritt lost its previous shelter in August of last year. For the months that followed, some of the 67 reported homeless people in the city were put into temporary housing, while others remained in tents, camped out in a local park.
A warm bed and a place to call home for Merritt’s most vulnerable population, as the Nicola Valley Shelter Society (NVSS) has opened a new 41-bed shelter at the Knight’s Inn motel, importantly no longer located above access to alcoholic vices.
“That’s our main goal here is to get people into recovery and get them healthy. We were never going to be able to do that on top of a bar with a cold beer and wine store at the bottom, as well,” said program coordinator for NVSS, John Warren. “That is kind of why we have put some of the measures that we have here. It’s going really, really well. I’m really excited and I’m really happy for it.”
The shelter is currently at about 50 per cent capacity, with guests living in five-pod rooms during the initial phase of their stay. The shelter also has transitional rooms for those looking to move into recovery or longer term housing.
“Addiction is not straight road. There are curves, there are turns, people are going to slip up, people are going to have bad days, people are going to have great days. The message we are trying to deliver is that we are going to give people those tools so when they are having those great days they are excelling, when they are having the bad days they are able to reach out and have a different way of dealing or coping with that stress,” added Warren.
Prior to the shelter opening, the community voiced concerns around safety, some of which have been addressed by fencing and an 11:00 p.m. curfew for the guests, leading to a quiet few weeks for the mayor.
“I think with this cold snap, I’m glad its open. We did have a cold weather shelter open here and once [the new facility] went up, they asked us to shut it down, which we did. They are taking care of all of that. I haven’t heard much but we will see as it goes along. I’ll be honest with you, the summer months will be the telling point,” said Mayor Mike Goetz.
“I think we have subsided a lot of that, just because we have kept our word with the things we’ve done. We said there is going to be a curfew, there is a curfew. We said there is going to be a fence, there is a fence. And I think with us be honest and up front with them, it really helped,” said Warren.
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