United Way BC gave a $10,000 grant to Cranbrook’s Fresh Start Collaborative Society to support vulnerable residents deal with extreme temperatures.
Social Development Coordinator with the City of Cranbrook Marcel Germer says the grant money was used to develop a comprehensive response plan.
“The grant has been a lifesaver for our community, coming in to help purchase items and supplies necessary to helping people survive the cold weather through winter,” said Germer.
“Basic things like trying to keep your water thawed, keeping yourself warm, and having dry socks, clothes and sleeping gear become so much more difficult when you live in a tent. When you add freezing temperatures on top of that, it’s almost impossible to survive.”
Part of the grant was used to buy cold-weather gear for unhoused residents.
“Having money that lets us make sure people have proper gloves and boots, decent and safe heating, insulation for their tents and all of those things make a difference between people just surviving and not suffering a lot of frostbite and other cold weather injuries,” said Germer.
Germer says outreach groups took a different approach this year.
“We individually looked at what people needed instead of just buying a bunch of stuff without knowing who it would fit,” said Germer.
Cranbrook also offers a cold weather shelter at Christ Church Anglican that opens at night when temperatures dip below -15 degrees.
The remaining funds from the grant were used to coordinate a multi-organization cold weather response plan.
“We do regularly scheduled outreach that’s on a calendar that goes out to the community to make sure outreach is happening consistently and everyone has the supplies they need,” said Germer.
“It makes a world of difference because most of the community’s agencies are coming together to create this plan, rather than one or two agencies.”
The United Way BC’s grant, through the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, was split between 19 organizations in northern B.C. and the Southern Interior.
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