The Town of Drayton Valley is working on bringing ShelterPods to the community.
Town officials say the new initiative creates a temporary place for homeless people to spend the night.
The project is being spearheaded by the Drayton Valley and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). FCSS sees the ShelterPods as being a replacement for the Community Mat Program, which currently provides warm places for the homeless to sleep.
FCSS is renovating an old camp shack, which will have seven temporary accommodations inside. FCSS also has two prospective lots picked out at 5349 – 54 Street where the ShelterPods can be located. One of the advantages of building the ShelterPods inside a camp shack, according to officials, is they can easily relocate them if need be.
FCSS has already secured a grant to cover the initial set-up, but a condition of the grant is that FCSS must guarantee operational costs for the next five years.
FCSS made two requests before council on Dec. 22. One was to get the Town to approve the location, as it is a Town-owned lot. The second was to acquire a guarantee for the operational costs.
Officials say the long term plan is to eventually turn the funding of the ShelterPods over to a community organization. Councillor Amila Gammana asked if there are any interested community organizations.
FCSS responded, they have been working extensively with the Homeless and Poverty Reduction Committee on the project. They are looking at expanding the committee’s abilities to look after it, and they are looking at a number of other options to present to council in the New Year.
Gammana also wanted to know how the ShelterPods would compare to the Mat Program. FCSS responded that the Mat Program never has more than eight clients at a time.
Council approved the location at 5349 – 54 Street, and also guaranteed the funding.
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