Renovations are beginning this week at the Unitarian shelter in Nanaimo, after it received a total of $289,000 through private donations and government funding.
The upgrade includes ensuring the 25-bed facility meets building and fire codes, as well as adding key new services.
An on-site shower will be installed and a new accessible washroom will be built, along with a small area for Island Health workers to assist guests, shelter executive director Paul Manly said Monday, calling the changes a “big improvement for health and safety for guests and for staff.”
The project is expected to be finished by the end of June.
The shelter already operates a free shower Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m a few blocks away in Caledonia Park. That free shower program is continuing.
Adding a separate accessible washroom inside the shelter, in addition to the existing men’s and women’s bathrooms, will assist guests who use walkers, mobility scooters or wheelchairs, Manly said.
Renovations will include updates to electrical and plumbing systems, asbestos abatement, installation of drywall for fire separations and replacement of crumbling flooring in the 1946 building.
During the work, the shelter has been temporarily moved upstairs into the west wing of the Unitarian Fellowship’s Townsite Road building.
The Nanaimo Unitarian opened in a 2,500-square-foot space in the lower level of the church building in late 2008 to provide a safe place for people without homes during severe weather.
The $289,000 raised included donations from individuals, service organizations and community groups, Coastal Community Credit Union and the Nanaimo Foundation. The federal Reaching Home program contributed $120,000 and B.C. Housing put in $50,000.
Overall, the project is expected to cost about $200,000, but costs could reach $250,000, Manly said.
Last fall, the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo announced it had set a $150,000 fundraising target for renovations to the building at 595 Townsite Rd.
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