Lifestyle: Ridge cyclist looking forward to a long ride. 25
Sports: Jr. B Flames in a hoolding pattern. 27
Municipal: Rocky relationship between two cities. 3
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Sally Ann reeling from city’s request Funding is 70 per cent of Caring Place budget By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Cutting funding to the Salvation Army’s emergency shelter at The Caring Place will affect other services, such as its meal program, with repercussions throughout Maple Ridge, says Patricia Cuff. “It will hugely impact the community,” said Cuff, in charge of public relations with the Salvation Army. Maple Ridge council this week asked B.C. Housing to end its $1 million annual funding for the 25-bed emergency shelter. The contract expires March 2017. “But how it will play out, we just don’t know yet,” Cuff said. B.C. Housing funding for the shelter pays for 70 per cent of the Caring Place’s $1.2 million annual budget, leading the Salvation Army to question if it can continue to operate if that money is no longer in place. “So our challenge at this point is, if the shelter is not operating, then it does place at risk all the other programs,” Cuff said. “We hope to continue to operate even in light of these recent statements.” Just what services the Salvation Army will continue to offer, if it loses the funding for the shelter, remains to be seen. “It does place us in a vulnerable position.” Cuff said that the Salvation Amy operates more than 20 shelters in B.C. and one in five across Canada and has been doing that for 100 years. See Sally Ann, 8
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
The homeless camp on Cliff Avenue will be disbanded by October.
City shelter will go downtown Across the street from Salvation Army B y P h i l M e l nychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
A former mattress store will serve as the City of Maple Ridge’s temporary homeless shelter. The city shelter will open in the former Sleep Shop building, on Lougheed Highway, across the street from the Salvation Army Caring Place and Cliff Avenue homeless camp, in October. The low-barrier shelter – minimal restrictions on who can stay – will have 40 beds and will operate until March 2016, the city an-
nounced Wednesday. “The temporary shelter is a critical component of ending the Cliff Avenue camp,” said Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read. B.C. Housing will fund the city shelter. “We will be working closely with the temporary shelter provider to mitigate any impacts with the immediate neighbourhood,” said Read. “This is an important transition in our community. We recognize that some citizens have lost confidence in shelters based on the issues surrounding the Salvation Army Caring Place. However, we are confident that a new approach will demonstrate that there are
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successful ways to deal with homelessness.” Read added that, in the meantime, the city will increase private security around the Cliff camp on Friday and Saturday evenings and on weekends. After the camp on Cliff Avenue is disbanded, Read private security and enhanced RCMP presence will remain in place, until the situation stabilizes, said Read. “Those residents have been extraordinarily patient as we have moved to this short-term solution. Council wants to acknowledge their strength and ensure
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that the neighbourhood has a strong voice and confidence that this issue will be behind them.” She said the long-term plan is for Maple Ridge has a “service provision model that delivers results for the most vulnerable citizens and is accountable to the community at large. “With our provincial leaders at the table, we will rebuild the service network and restore the confidence of the community that we can deal with the challenges of homelessness.” See City, 8
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