The Comox Valley Transition Society will be reimbursed for money it has invested to help operate the Connect Warming Centre in Courtenay.
At the May 12 CVRD board meeting, directors approved reallocating $10,000 of $60,000 — earmarked for a permanent drop-in centre — to the Connect Centre at 685 Cliffe Ave.
The Transition Society is a member agency of the Comox Valley Coalition to End Homelessness, which is leasing the property from the City of Courtenay, and will be requesting a one-year extension beyond June 30. The CVTS has paid nearly $8,000 in capital costs and building improvements.
Coalition co-ordinator Andrea Cupelli said the centre has been an important resource for vulnerable members of the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s become a place where folks can get not only services but educated on what’s going on with COVID,” Cupelli told the board. “We still see about 40 to 50 people a day. Pre-pandemic we were seeing about 60. That goes to show the necessity of a space like that.”
Director David Frisch thanked the coalition for its hard work.
“We rely on them and their expertise in figuring out where these resources go,” Frisch said.