Whenever we get extreme temperatures we get people coming in looking for a place to hang out and cool off. At first we weren't sure how we would manage to accommodate this, with covid restrictions limiting the amount of people we can have in our space, so we were very pleased when we heard the most recent restrictions made exceptions for drop in centers to become cooling centers for people who are street involved. We are also able to hand out bottles of water. Hooray! As long as our guests are able to stay 6 feet apart they can come in, cool off and rehydrate.
As a drop in center we are one of the few places allowed to be open right now. Restaurants are closed to people sitting inside, same with the library. So on a hot day we get quite a few people popping in to cool off, use the wifi, and often sleep on one of our couches, because it's exhausting wandering the streets when it's +35 out there. And every time someone comes in they ask for water. So if anyone has any water bottles they can donate we would love to accept them and pass them out to the people who come in to use our drop in center as a place to cool off.
A case of water bottles only costs $2 to $3 dollars. If you are able to add a case to your grocery shop this week and drop it off at 345 Loewen Blvd, (blue doors on the west side of the building) that would be fantastic! Our guests would certainly appreciate it.
The majority of our guests have to walk everywhere they go, so by the time they get to Outreach to get help with whatever they need help with, or to pick up their food, they are hot and parched from the long walk over. We actually go through quite a few water bottles every day trying to keep people cool and safe.
So if you have any bottled water you can spare, we would love to pass it on to our guests.