As temperatures drop close to -10 Celsius this week, workers at North Vancouver's homeless shelter are literally rolling out the welcome mats.
The extreme cold weather conditions mean the shelter will open up 20 extra spaces - essentially sleeping mats laid out on the floor each evening - to give North Shore homeless a place to come in out of the cold.
One man, who was recently hospitalized with a lung infection, told workers he doesn't know where he'd be without emergency help from the shelter. When it's cold out, "He usually walks during the night," said Lani Johnson, community liaison worker for the shelter, run by the Lookout Society. Since he was hospitalized, however, the man has been told he can't be outside and should be on bed rest. That's difficult for someone who doesn't have either a bed or a home, said Johnson.
Respiratory illness is one of the leading contributors to early death among the homeless, added Johnson.
"Some of the guys out there, we really worry about them."
When temperatures drop below zero or there's snow or freezing rain, the North Shore shelter adds 20 temporary sleeping spaces to its regular 45-bed shelter. Workers can also open up additional space for 20 more sleeping mats at North Shore Neighbourhood House if needed.
During extreme weather conditions, the shelter provides a warm place for the homeless to hang out and access various services during the day as well, said Johnson. "We're a 24-hour shelter," she said. "We don't kick them out."
The shelter rolled out its extra sleeping mats over the weekend and is expecting to keep them available through the coming week. By Monday night, nine people were bunking down in the shelter's dining room. Johnson said she's expecting those numbers to grow, as word gets out through the shelter's outreach workers and other community agencies.
The shelter is always looking for donations of warm clothing and fleece blankets that outreach workers can drop off for those who insist on staying outside.
On Tuesday, dubbed "Toque Tuesday," volunteers and shelter staff were at the SeaBus terminal in North Vancouver and other stations around Metro Vancouver selling toques to raise money for Lower Mainland shelters.
Environment Canada has predicted nighttime temperatures could dip to minus 8 through to Sunday night.
A dome of high-pressure dry, cold air from the arctic - dubbed the Arctic Anti-Vortex by Environment Canada meteorologist David Jones - has been keeping skies clear and temperatures lower than average.
"It's your typical cold snap," said Jones, noting this is the third such blast of cold weather to hit the south coast since the end of November.
Probably more noteworthy is a ridge of high pressure from the Pacific that has persisted since October over the south coast. That's deflected rainstorms and created an unusually dry winter weather pattern over the past four months - even over the normally rain-soaked North Shore.
Jones said the south coast may see some snow - or snow that turns to rain - at the tail end of the arctic system, most likely on Sunday or Monday.
