Editor:
When Hope faced below freezing temperatures and snowstorm followed by torrential rain in the early part of this year, organizations and members of the community stepped up to provide food, warmth and shelter to those in need.
Thank you to the Grace Baptist Church, who opened their doors to provide the Extreme Weather Response overnight shelter, and the Hope Recreation Centre for opening a daytime Warming Centre and providing security.
Hope and Area Transition Society staffed both facilities and provided warm meals and met the basic needs of those who accessed services. BC Housing provided funding and individual people provided meals, clothing, blankets, and other incidentals (you know who you are). Thank you.
The Extreme Weather Response Shelter was open for 19 nights and served an average of eight to 10 people per night. The Warming Centre was open for 16 days and served six to eight people per day. The House of Hope shelter, on Old Hope-Princeton Hwy., regularly provide hot meals and dry clothing to those in need. In January, 500 hot meals were given at the door and in February, 375.
At the time, The House of Hope shelter was at capacity, with 25 people receiving services and an average of 25-30 people being turned away each month.
Nearly all have connections to Hope, and those who are from surrounding communities are provided with food and bus tickets to return to their own communities for services.
There is an evening Community Outreach Team which circulates in the community from 4 p.m. to midnight most days of the week providing food, supplies and assistance to the homeless in the community.
The team is a temporary project which complements the daytime Community Outreach Team, and together they work collaboratively to ensure that services and supports are offered to the unsheltered people of Hope.
As the chairs of the Community Advisory Committee for the House of Hope Shelter and proposed Supportive Housing project, we thank all the organizations and individuals who served our community.
Catherine Wiebe
Connie Davis