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By Veronica Beltran

emergency response centre

Province opens 45 bed emergency response centre for vulnerable

May 5, 2020 | 2:19 PM

VICTORIA—The province is opening up a 45 bed emergency response centre with wraparound supports and services at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.

The new temporary accommodation site will house people living in encampments on the Pandora Ave. corridor and Topaz Park on the island. This is the first site in B.C. to feature pop-up pods that provide privacy for people staying there.

“This is a challenging time for everyone, especially for people experiencing homelessness. In Victoria, we have seen encampments at Topaz Park and the Pandora corridor grow into unsafe, dense encampments that are compounding existing health, well-being and safety challenges.”—Shane Simpson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction

The temporary centre is scheduled to open in the coming days, once all staff are in place, the use of the facility is also being extended to B.C. Housing in order to provide shelter to vulnerable people in the community during the pandemic.

People at the site will have access to services such as meals, washroom facilities, health-care services, addictions treatments and harm reduction, storage for personal belongings and other supports.

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B.C. Housing is partnering with PHS Community Services Society to operate the emergency response centre, which will receive people referred by Island Health and B.C. Housing.