Our Place has opened a new 20-bed winter shelter that will replace some of the spaces lost earlier this year when organizations were forced to take in fewer people each night to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
Grant McKenzie, the organization’s director of communications, said the society has received money from B.C. Housing to lease the Victoria Cool Aid Society’s downtown community centre at 755 Pandora Ave.
“It’s only 20 mats, but because of COVID you need a lot of space,” he said.
The society’s other overnight shelter at First Metropolitan United Church was forced to reduce the number of mats in the gymnasium from about 62 to 34 due to the pandemic and new physcial-distancing requirements, he said.
“This now adds 20 to that,” he said. “That’s still below what we used to have pre-COVID when we just had First Met, but at least we’re getting more people in.”
McKenzie said the new shelter opened Sunday and will open every night until March 31.
