In December 2021, the Purpose Society opened an Emergency Weather Response Shelter (EWR) at the back of 502 Columbia Street, the former Army and Navy building.

This site not only provides a refuge from the cold and wet weather, but a place where people who are experiencing homelessness can receive a hot bowl of soup, coffee/tea and a chance to speak to staff who are experienced in listening to people in crisis.

Instead of a cement floor, a cot. Instead of newspaper to cover themselves at night, a blanket. Instead of a broken sleep, a safe place to rest.  Our emergency shelter not only gets our fellow New Westminster neighbours out of the cold, but gives them a 12-hour window of normalcy that may spark a change.