Campbell River could lose life-saving essential services for people experiencing homelessness if a new location to lease isn’t found before June 30.
Shawn Decaire has been searching for a new site for Kwesa Place since the City of Campbell River acquired the property the Laichwiltach Family Life Society leases on Shoppers Row. The city has issued eviction notices, providing them until the end of June to vacate the premises.
As part of its revitalization plan, the city will demolish the buildings it purchased in the 1300 block of Shoppers Row and work with the private sector to create commercial and civic spaces, along with housing options above. This acquisition also means that Harbourside Inn, home to the Həm'ʔaelas Community Kitchen, will be torn down too.
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"As of right now, if we don't find anything, we're gonna be forced to shut our doors," said Decaire, who manages both the kitchen and warming centre.
It's hard to feel optimistic, Decaire said, because he is limited by the constraints imposed by the city due to a new zoning bylaw that restricts his options for relocation.
"If we want to go outside of that area, we have to ask the landowner to reapply to have it rezoned," he said. "It's a long process."
The city has offered to fast-track the rezoning process, Decaire said, but he feels that asking property owners to rezone property is a big request. So far, no one has been receptive to the idea.
Both centres play a critical role in providing support and resources, offering a lifeline to many vulnerable individuals in the community.
As a drop-in space, Kwesa Place is a safe place for those experiencing homelessness to rest, have a snack, clean their clothes and take a shower. The Həm'ʔaelas Community Kitchen serves hot meals for over 100 people every night. Through the Laichwiltach Family Life Society, people can receive addiction recovery services and counselling.
Angela, who did not give her last name, was at the community kitchen for dinner on Wednesday. She said from her perspective, it has consistently been the safest place in Campbell River's downtown area.
"This is the only place in town where you can be treated like a human being," she said. "We're folks who have fallen on hard times. We can get a meal, and for a lot of people, it's the only meal you get."
Working with BC Housing and community partners, the city opened Homewood Village last November. Homewood has 40 units of temporary housing with supports at 1299 Homewood Rd. It was built to help people transitioning out of homelessness.
However, Decaire said more measures are needed, and removing services from the downtown area will likely exacerbate issues around the unhoused population and safety concerns.
"Just because you delete a service, doesn't mean you delete the issue," he said.
Before Kwesa Place and Həm'ʔaelas Community Kitchen opened nearly five years ago, the area had significantly higher levels of drug activity, violence, and prostitution, he said.
"Since we moved in, we have enforced strict rules to not allow those kinds of things to take place in the vicinity because we want to protect the general public from it as well," he said.
Decaire is asking property owners in Campbell River within the Commercial One (C1) zone, west of Dogwood, to reach out.
"Give us a try and allow us to prove that we can make a good impact on our community," he said. "We've never had an overdose and we've never had a death. We have had little to no violence. We have a good track record because we treat people with respect, and we treat people with love."
