Gabriola Warming Centre opened during cold snap

Nicole Knowles

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder

The blustery winter weather this past month brought a whole new beauty to Gabriola, but it also threatens the health and safety of individuals who are experiencing homelessness or are underhoused.

Recognizing this, the Extreme Weather Action Table (EWAT) adopted a threshold to measure the need for a warming centre that is based on comparable local areas and regions. The threshold is not based on the extreme cold weather alerts issued by Environment Canada, which is the measure for the Assistance to Shelter Act used by the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN).

The criteria used for Gabriola are temperatures near zero with rainfall that makes it difficult or impossible for those experiencing homelessness to remain dry; sleet or freezing rain; snow accumulation; sustained high winds; and, temperatures at or below 0°C, or “feels like” 0°C with wind chill.”

The Warming Centre is hosted at the Gabriola Fellowship Church., staffed by volunteers in collaboration with PHC outreach was open over a number of days this past month, seeing steady attendance. 

The Action Table meets regularly, to discuss opening hours as the Island continues to experience cold weather.

When the warming centre is opened, a notice is sent out by the EWAT through various channels and social media, including the Sounder Alert email system.

To subscribe to those Alerts, send an email to derek@soundernews.com with the subject line, “Subscribe to Alerts”