First United Church operates an emergency shelter program under contract with BC Housing. We currently have sleeping spaces for 27 women and 122 men. Twenty-five men are accommodated on a night-by-night basis on mats in our gym. The balance of the men’s accommodation is in bunk beds in the converted sanctuary. Men register for these beds and they are reserved until vacated. This is also the case for the 27 women’s beds.

As part of the shelter program, registrants are provided with meals, toiletries and shower facilities, towels, and bedding. Shelter users can also take advantage of a separate storage program for secure storage of their belongings. Our community worker staff engage one-on-one with shelter users. They assess needs and provide services either in-house or by referral. A Clinical Outreach Team from Vancouver Coastal Health is assigned to the shelter program to provide primary health care.

Under the terms of our current contract, our staff is working with outreach teams based in our building from Carnegie Centre and BC Housing to find housing for the regular users of the shelter.