In December 2021, the Purpose Society opened an Emergency Weather Response Shelter (EWR) at 502 Front St Mews.

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.

Since then, the Purpose Society Shelter operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It also has three showers open next to the Shelter, with full privacy.

Other services at the Purpose Society Shelter offered are:

• We provide our clients with three meals a day.
• The shelter provides services based on each client’s needs, connecting them with support such as an outreach worker, Ministry services, and healthcare.
• The shelter also provides clients with access to laundry facilities and computers, a landline phone, and dining areas with TV and entertainment space, including a foosball, a ping-pong table, and a bookshelf.
• The shelter helps clients find housing after they complete all the processes and qualify.