NANAIMO — After years of community calls for action, a new City-funded warming and cooling centre is opening in the city.
Announced Wednesday, Dec. 18, the same day a lease was signed, and to open Jan. 2, 2025, the City-funded facility will be run out of 55 Victoria Rd., with an entrance off Nicol St. and be operated by the Island Crisis Care Society.
Nanaimo Family Life Association will also play an active role in the centre’s operation, which will serve as “a welcoming safe space, offering essential services, connections to community resources and a refuge from extreme weather conditions,” according to the City.
Hours of operation will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.
Services offered will include basic warming or cooling spaces, depending on the time of year, access to food, hygiene and clothing, as well as connection to longer-term supports for emergency shelter or long-term housing.
Other supports and services run by external organizations remain in place, including emergency shelters and winter spaces run by Risebridge and the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo.
The City notes they continue to push the provincial government for more supports and services for those without adequate shelter or resources.
More information on available warming spaces and shelters in Nanaimo is available here.
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