Citing safety, concerns from the community, drug use and a financial strain, the City of White Rock has decided to not continue hosting a daytime shelter in the winter for unhoused individuals.
The Daytime Warming Centre has been operating in White Rock for years, run by Engaged Communities Canada Society. However, the 2024-25 winter season saw the centre run by Lookout Housing and Health Society at Centennial Arena.
"Every time we go through this, it's a very difficult decision for council to make because we want to help. It's hundreds of thousands of dollars we have to come up with from the taxpayers, but I personally did not support the Centennial Park location, and I think that's a terrible location for that trailer to be, and I was not happy with the operators this year when I saw what was going on there and reports from the RCMP," Mayor Megan Knight said during the Monday (June 9) council meeting.
If it were to have moved forward, Knight said she would need it in the agreement that White Rock RCMP are allowed to enter the centre whenever they deem necessary, contrasting from how it's been run for years. No one who was not looking to receive support from the centre or its volunteers were allowed in the space to protect the guests' privacy.
"To say the police cannot attend the warming shelter in the daytime is totally unacceptable," said Coun. Christopher Trevelyan, his point also supported by the rest on council.
Another point of contention for the city was that people from other municipalities were using the space, which many said was not the intention.
"I have supported the warming centre in the past for our local unhoused, but I am having a lot of trouble supporting it now based on this report," Coun. Michele Partridge said, adding that it was meant to be "for our own community."
Coun. Elaine Cheung and Trevelyan also echoed this point.
"It was more made for, the intent was for seniors who were sleeping in their cars or somebody who was actually working but couldn't afford housing — we had those in previous years, and also women who were perhaps fleeing from violence," Cheung said, adding that many individuals from other areas using the space "wasn't the plan."
"My support was only conditional if we had security and if the ambassador program was successful... but the condition was not met."
Knight also said if it were to continue operating, she would want a full record of names of each person who utilized the centre and where they're from.
"The shelter has become a magnet for those experiencing homelessness from across the Lower Mainland, some as far away as Hope and Abbotsford," Partridge said.
"The whole intent is different now and we are a magnet for unwelcome behaviour, and I don't want that for the residents, I want them to feel safe."
There has also been a "growing frustration" from residents, businesses, park users and more, the councillor added.
In particular, White Rock South Surrey Baseball Association president Michael Carriere sent a letter to council in May to encourage the city to not hold the centre at Centennial Arena. In his letter, he stated that the batting cage was vandalized, drug paraphernalia was found in the area, some users of the centre would urinate in public and people were having "uncomfortable interactions" with the shelter guests.
Another letter came from Holly Halford from Blossom and Roots Childcare, who stated some guests from the centre were using substances near the daycare, preventing trips to the forest trails, a security guard was not always present at the warming centre and some of the guests would approach the daycare.
Many Surrey recreation centres are open during the winter months for people to go to for warming needs, Partridge noted; however, these places do not offer health care, meals, clothing and other needs the daytime shelter does.
While health care was provided closer to a weekly basis, everything else was provided daily as the centre was open each day from November till March. The next closest option would be a weekly Wednesday program running at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Cheung said.
Partridge said that due to drug use in and around the site, the warming centre became unsafe and the local unhoused population was not using it.
Drug use was also a concern from Chesney and Trevelyan, who both voted against the warming centre last winter, with Chesney having voted against it the last two years.
"It almost breaks my heart because I've been accused of being cold and calculated, and that's not the type of person I am at all," Chesney said.
"My main reason was two-fold: one, the location of Centennial Park never seemed to be a good fit, and second of all, closing at 10 o'clock at night. These people are homeless, we've identified that, and without somewhere for them to go — on colder days South Surrey Rec Centre had somewhere for them to go, otherwise we're returning these people into our community to fend for themselves, and police have indicated and I've seen firsthand from living in the northern part of White Rock, the crime rate is exponential tied to the warming centre."
Meanwhile, Trevelyan said his support for the warming centre would only come if it were to be open on days of extreme cold and if it were located elsewhere; however, "quite frankly, there are no good spots in White Rock," he said.
Many emails from residents opposed to the warming centre were collated into a document for council to review. A public survey was also conducted that found out of 1,242 respondents, 48.4 per cent were in favour of White Rock having a daytime warming centre while 41.5 per cent opposed to it. When asked if they supported their tax dollars going towards funding the centre, out of 1,249 respondents, 45.7 per cent were in favour while 54.3 were opposed.
Knight presented a motion to direct city staff to reach out to local churches once again to see if any of them are willing to house the warming centre in a trailer outdoors on days with extreme weather, with some city money provided. The motion passed with all except Cheung in favour.
Of the staff's three options, council voted unanimously to support the third option, which is to not move forward with a daytime warming centre for the upcoming season and instead work with Surrey and the province to have a supportive housing site built in South Surrey.
"We just can't go it alone. We need the province, we need the feds, and we need Surrey to come to the table to solve this problem. The taxpayers of White Rock can't continue to bear this problem and only to turn them over to the street at the end of the night," Chesney said.
Lookout Housing and Health Society declined providing Peace Arch News an interview with last winter's operator of the warming centre, the representative deferring to the city for questions.
