Men’s shelter eyeing new home at old St. Paul’s Hospital site

The red brick, former warehouse at Robson and Cambie that has provided homeless and transient men with overnight shelter for more than 60 years may be in its final weeks of service.

The Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter, in the century-old building that once housed the downtown offices of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, is hopeful the way could be cleared for a move next month to St. Paul’s Hospital’s former nurses’ residence at 1056 Comox St.

The shelter’s current home at 150 Robson Street is now in need of a seismic upgrade. It also needs more washrooms and office space and isn’t accessible to anyone who has pets, carts, or difficulty climbing three flights of stairs. In short, it is long past time to move.

“It is a very exciting time for us, having operated here for 61 years,” said the shelter’s interim manager, Solomon Atta. “We are excited that we are going into a new space with more modernized items, materials, and space.”

Guests will move from as many as 24 men sleeping in one room to a maximum of four. At the new site they will also have access to three lounge areas (up from one) and 12 showers (up from four). Staff also have their own lounge and more spacious areas to meet, work, and plan.

“What we are also doing, in addition, is restructure our parts to make sure at the centre of operation we are able to provide them with needed love, care, and help them in their life journey.”

One huge change is an area of the shelter designated for seniors and people with frail health or other conditions, who will be able to lean on care attendants to help them get in and out of bed, remind them to take their medicine, or make sure they go to the hospital for medical appointments. While regular guests are expected to leave the shelter during the day, these guests can stay in their rooms 24/7. The shelter will not be providing medical services, said Atta.

The new site will also provide safer working conditions for staff, an indoor area for guests to stay warm while waiting for a bed to open up, and more storage space for guests to keep belongings.

In addition to offering a place to sleep, eat, shower, and run laundry, Atta said the shelter will continue to work with guests to help find long-term solutions for their needs.

“[Case managers] help guests move on in life and transition,” he said. “If they need housing, we connect them to B.C. Housing. Those who need employment, they are connected to employment agencies. Those who need health care, we link them up with health facilities. Some of them do not have bank or ID cards. Whatever their immediate and long-term needs are, we work with them.”

The archdiocese, Providence Health Care, and City of Vancouver officials are hopeful that if everything falls into place, the shelter will relocate in December to the second and third floors of the Comox Building.

The shelter has been looking for a new home since the Robson Street warehouse, purchased by the archdiocese in 1957, was sold to Amacon Development in 2012.

Last year the archdiocese and Catholic Charities approached Providence Health Care with a proposal to renovate and upgrade portions of the Comox Building to accommodate the new shelter – an opportunity Providence Health Care says aligns with its mission of caring for and supporting the most vulnerable members of society.

The move is temporary as the current St. Paul’s site will be vacated when the new St. Paul’s Hospital opens at 1002 Station St., near the Pacific Central train station, in 2026. The shelter won’t be moving to the new hospital and will search for a new location.

Renovations to the Comox site include new sprinklers and other upgrades to the building, which hasn’t housed any residents since the nurses moved out in 1974. The December move-in date is contingent upon completion of construction and final inspections before occupancy is granted.

A neighbourhood engagement process will take place to answer any questions or concerns those who live near St. Paul’s.

The shelter typically offers 102 beds to homeless and transient men every night but since March has been operating at a lower capacity to allow for physical spacing during the pandemic. The new shelter will accommodate a minimum of 102 guests per night, with additional capacity in case of severe winter weather.

Plans to relocate have been in the works for decades but finally began taking shape when the archdiocese sold the building to Amacon Development in 2012 to fund the construction of new archdiocesan offices at West 33rd and Willow.

The new John Paul II Pastoral Centre opened in 2015, and Amacon announced its plans for a new condo and hotel tower at the Robson site, but it has taken until now to find a suitable new location for the shelter.