“These people become my family.” Risebridge shelter faces possible closure as shelter funding expires

Bennett said the Risebridge shelter is the only place that has felt like home since she lost her own housing. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

Today, 24 people are facing the possibility of being on the street after BC Housing funding for a temporary shelter ends.

Since October, non-profit organization Risebridge has been offering a low-barrier cold-weather overnight shelter for those unhoused in Nanaimo.

The overnight shelter was funded by BC Housing through a temporary winter shelter funding contract. 

But on April 30, the last day of the contract, many of the shelter's guests are facing the possibility of being placed back on the street while Risebridge looks for other funding for its shelter.

A day ahead of possible closure, a group of about 15 people marched downtown, outside Nanaimo City Hall, as well as the office of MLA for Nanaimo-Gabriola Island and Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, Sheila Malcolmson.

Dr. Jess Wilder, a local family and addictions medicine doctor in Nanaimo and co-founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, was one of the people leading the march.

“As you probably know, most of my patients who are affected by substance use, or many of my patients, are also unhoused here in our community,” Wilder said. “We are here protesting in front of City Hall and in front of Sheila Malcolmson's office the closure of our two remaining overnight shelters that provide emergency and shelter access beds for people who are unhoused.”

The Hub, a nighttime winter shelter run by the Nanaimo Family Life Association, received a one-time top-up extension of their BC Housing contract, funding them to stay open until May 31 of this year.

The hub offers 20 beds for men and women.

Wilder said while the Risebridge shelter may only have 24 beds for the approximately 1,000 unhoused people in the Nanaimo area, those 24 beds still matter.

“Twenty-four people may not sound like a lot, but this is stability, security, access to regular nutrition and shelter and a place to be warm and dry every night,” Wilder said. “We have people who have concerns with their mental health or other concerns like chronic illnesses that will be expected to destabilize if they are left out on the streets without regular access to care and shelter. As a physician, this concerns me, because we know that as soon as you take away housing, it's one of the most, most important factors in somebody's care and wellness.”

Amy Allan was another concerned citizen who heard about the rally supporting the Risebridge shelter.

She said right now, in Nanaimo, there are just not enough shelter beds for those in need of them.

“It's just going to be 24 more desperate people out on the streets, like that's not going to help anyone. It's going to create further competition for the limited resources that there actually are in Nanaimo. People already say Nanaimo is ‘the city with no pity.’ There are people out there competing for resources that are so strained,” Allan said. “There are more resources in Nanaimo than are advertised, because they don't have the resources to help everyone. So it ends up being a city where you have to know someone to get by. That's awful.”

A day ahead of the contract end, CHLY’s Midcoast Morning host Joe Pugh stopped by Risebridge and spoke to volunteer Kim Coulthard. 

Coulthard said every year since Risebridge started applying for funding for their shelter, they have always asked for an extension to their contract to extend into the summer. She said even with the support from the MLA and former MP Lisa Marie Barron advocating for them, every year they have always been denied.

“So people are going to be leaving with just whatever they have on their backs and trying to find a place to lay their head,” Coulthard said.

Risebridge is now looking at other funding avenues to keep the nighttime shelter open.

Deronda Bennett is a shelter guest at Risebridge. Joe Pugh also spoke with her.

She said that since she started attending the shelter when it opened in October, Risebridge has been very open to her about the fact that the funding could end at the end of April.

“That means that I either find another shelter to go to which scares the life out of me, or I happen to be one of the very lucky ones who have a child that is willing to take me in, but because of circumstances in my life right now, I'm not really prepared to do that,” Bennett said.” So it's either another shelter or the street for me, really.”

She explained she has had some really bad experiences at former shelters that have left her feeling unsafe at many of them.

“It wasn't until I came here that I felt like I was safe,” Bennett said. “These people became my family, and neither judged me for any of my extracurricular activities that I'm having a hard time with ever since my daughter and my dad died.”

She said the Risebridge shelter is the only place that has felt like home since she lost her own housing.

“My birthday was just the other day, and they even had cake and everything,” Bennett said. “Everybody sang Happy Birthday, because it is like a family. It's been like that with everybody else's birthday over the last six months too.”

Heidi Hartman, associate vice president of supportive housing & homelessness for BC Housing, spoke to CHLY about the shelter funding at Risebridge.

She explained that during the 2024-2025  winter season, three shelters were given funding for a temporary overnight winter shelter: Risebridge, the Hub, and the shelter at Saint Peter’s Church. Saint Peter’s shelter closed at the end of March.

“Our operators and other outreach partners in the community work with folks in the shelters to do what they can to ensure housing continuity or shelter continuity,” Hartman said. “Unfortunately, there's a need for more available shelter or supportive housing.”

Hartman said all temporary winter shelters received the same type of contract as the Risebridge one. But she said they made the tough decision to give any additional funding to the Hub to extend its contract for another month.

“We took a look at where the opportunities are and the limited amount of funding, and the decision was made to be able to support the hub site with an extension,” Hartman said. “We recognize that there is a need in Nanaimo, and we were really pleased that we have the opportunity to be able to extend the shelter, one of the shelters, beyond the regular time frame.

She added that BC Housing will be giving an update to the community in the coming weeks about an announcement of approximately 150 temporary housing beds that will open up in Nanaimo this spring and summer.

The full interviews from this article can be heard on Midcoast Morning.

With files from Joe Pugh – Midcoast Morning.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.