Moccasin Flats warming centre closing permanently on Monday

To residents of the Moccasin Flats it’s known as the warming centre, and especially when it’s cold and wet outside, it is their lifeline.

Located on the other side of the fence next to the encampment, it’s a place people can go to be inside, get fed, have a shower and spend the night out of the elements.

Opened in early January by the Association Advocating for Women and Community (AAWAC), the not-for-profit group that operates it, the warming centre, otherwise known as the safety site, will be closed permanently Monday morning.

AAWAC executive director Connie Abe says that has long been the plan, with the new BC Housing temporary supportive housing complex a couple of blocks east of the warming centre scheduled to open in the next couple of weeks. As soon as the city issues an occupancy permit, that will give the remaining Moccasin Flats residents will have an alternative to their makeshift tents and shelters, and the warming centre at its current location will be redundant.

“We were given notice in September or October that those trailers were going to be open so they no longer needed the use of the safety site at Moccasin Flats,” said Abe.

With the Third Avenue housing complex opening date still uncertain, AAWAC has already found an alternate warming centre site more centrally located in the downtown core.

Starting on Monday night, AAWAC will begin using the St. Vincent de Paul Drop-In Centre at 1220 Second Ave., as its overnight safety site. It will be open every day from 9 p.m.-7 a.m., which will give time for staff to clean up the drop-in centre as St. Vincent de Paul needs the space to prepare and distribute its bagged breakfasts and lunches to clients.

The cost of operating the new warming centre will be shared by the Reaching Home federal program and the Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association (PGNAETA). Abe said the province funds warming centres only when weather warnings are declared and that creates difficulty finding staff.

“We knew a warming centre  is desperately needed still, so I started working on securing another site and (on Thursday) I was given confirmation  - I applied for Reaching Home funds through PGNAETA to open up a different warming centre,” Abe said.

“St. Vincent de Paul has graciously allowed us to utilize their space at night so we can operate a warming centre there seven days a week (until the end of March). Nothing is changing to St. Vincent’s operation, we’re just utilizing their space at night.”

The Moccasin Flats warming centre at 497 Fourth Ave. was open all hours of the day until September, when it was reduced to 12 hours (8 p.m.-8 a.m.).

“On a really cold night we’d have upwards of 45 to 50 people in there and some nights we’d have 60 people there,” said Abe.

“One of the things that we find remarkable is the individuals who access that site, they actually monitor that site too. So when they see somebody that's getting out of hand, out of control, a lot of the clients deal with it themselves and they’ll ask that person that’s being a problem to leave. They know any kind of challenges they give our staff, it could jeopardize the ability to keep the place running.”

The new warming centre will offer food and drinks and a place to sleep. The AAWAC outreach team with its crew of two will continue to operate at night trying to convince people who are outdoors at night to come inside. Even when they refuse, Abe says they continually check up on that person through the night to make sure they are OK.

Having the warming centre right next to Moccasin Flats over the past year has allowed AAWAC staff and other social workers to connect with clients in safe place where they can have conversations with them.

“It is a gateway for us because we got to know a lot of individuals that we would nit have had the opportunity to get to know and just through that we were able to transition people straight from the streets to a recovery house,” said Abe.

“We support individuals at whatever stage of life they’re at to let them know whenever they’re ready and want to make a change in their lives we can help them.”

AAWAC operates a 40-bed shelter that’s reserved just for women, but the services the organization provides are for everybody. Clients of the shelter, at 144 George St., no longer have to register daily and can reserve their beds on a more permanent basis while also being allowed to store in bins under their bed some of their personal belongings.