We all knew this day would come, but that doesn't make it easy. "It was extremely tough," said Jason Siebenga, who operates the Welcome Inn at the Metro Community Church. This week 34 people who had been sheltering through the winter months were turned-out onto the street. 

There are some bright spots to talk about at the Welcome Inn Shelter, like the six people who found more lasting housing arrangements. But the onset of April was ominous for most. It means the temporary winter shelter is no longer available. 

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That's why Siebenga and the rest of the crew at the shelter decided to do at least something for this group of people. They reached out to BC Housing and got support to provide a hygiene centre for people. "Right now it's showers and laundry and just looking at what we else we can add," he said.

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Because it involves a lot of people coming and going, they have been focused on trying to maintain physical distancing. "We take the temperature of everybody on their way through the door," explained Siebenga. "We're just tracking. Making sure people don't have fevers."

Photo credit: NowMediaJason Siebenga

He admits people living on the street face even greater risks of infection in the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's a lot of close proximity," said Siebenga. And he explained that when you mix in mental health issues, it gets difficult. 

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"There's people that think it's a conspiracy and then there's people who don't believe it exists and then there's people that are completely panicked."

The plan is to get things operating in a way that allows them to stay open, no matter what.

'It's only staff and it's really specific duties, so it's all in our minds set up in a way that we should be able to sustain, even as the outbreak gets worse."