Fort St. John Warming Centre Update
May 31, 2022
Last fall, the City of Fort St. John successfully secured a Strengthening Community Services grant, in the amount of $446,775, which allowed the City and various community partners to address several areas identified in Energizing Our Future: The Social and Economic Framework of Fort St. John. The funding was being administered by the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) on behalf of the Province and the Government of Canada’s Safe Restart program and was required to be utilized by mid-2022.
In partnership with Urban Matters, the Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society, Community Bridge, and other community partners planned and executed several temporary initiatives to address unsheltered homelessness in the community.
These initiatives were highly successful supports for those who are vulnerable in our community over the cold winter months. Over 20 people were able to use the temporary hotel room shelter program and five families were able to secure longer-term shelter through Skye’s Place second stage housing. The Warming Centre has provided day access shelter, amenities such as showers and laundry services, and links to services referrals for over 20 people per day since opening its doors in January.
This week, funding for these projects concludes and the Warming Centre will close its doors effective 5 pm on Friday, June 3.
The City of Fort St. John has applied for a Strengthening Community Services grant for the 2022-2023 term Dependent on the outcome of that grant application, this may be a temporary closure, and project partners are hopeful that the Warming Centre can continue its programming for our vulnerable citizens from September 2022 to April 2023. Further updates will be provided as they become available.
The Energizing Our Future: The Social and Economic Framework of Fort St. John was developed through extensive community engagement and recognizes that social and economic development are intimately intertwined and mutually supportive. Broken into 15 social and economic action areas, this community plan belongs to passionate and committed citizens and organizations that want to make a difference by working together to build social capacity and economic growth and diversification.
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