New homeless shelter opens in Richmond
Posted October 20, 2012 9:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RICHMOND (NEWS1130) – On a cold and wet day, it’s a great place to warm-up and simply be welcome.
Organizer Dianne Woodhouse says the idea for the newly opened Richmond Drop-In Centre for the homeless at St. Alban’s church came out of the Extreme Weather Shelter that opens at the church.
“It became very apparent that these folks had no place to go during the day — they’d be put out on the streets in the cold and wet and snow,” notes Woodhouse. “They would go to places like the library or McDonald’s where they were tolerated, but of course, not welcome.”
The drop-in centre is centrally located between Granville and Garden City.
“It’s close to the bottle depot where a lot of our folks hang out, so they can push their shopping carts a few blocks over and come on in and have a cup of coffee,” adds Woodhouse.
She says the centre will allow people to have access to a variety of services, including the Internet.
“For instance, we had a gentleman this year that we put in touch with his family in Newfoundland via Skype. He’d never had contact with his family for years.”
Woodhouse says that down the road, they hope to have people come in and do haircuts and provide foot care.
The Richmond Food Bank, Extreme Weather Shelter and the weekly Community Meal have all come out of St. Alban’s church.
