While the Lookout presence was developing in New Westminster, we were successful in gaining funding for a winter-only (cold wet/extreme weather) shelter on the North Shore, where no shelter had existed previously. The North Shore, a community thought of as well-off, had a number of homeless living in the streets.
Lookout, in partnership with the North Shore Task Force on Homelessness, achieved funding to build a shelter and transitional housing service in the city of North Vancouver.
This came to be only through the significant support of the City of North Vancouver and the personal dedication of Mayor Barbara Sharp. Overcoming many obstacles, and with funding primarily from the Federal Governments Homeless Initiative (Supported Communities Partnership Initiative – SCPI), Canada Mortgage and Housing, BC Housing as well as the City itself, 25 year round shelter beds were opened on January 7, 2005 followed by 25 studio transitional housing apartments being collocated and opened on April 6, 2005. The generosity of local service clubs, businesses, individuals, neighbors and the Squamish Nation helped overcome a number of hiccups that still limited the full operation of the shelter at July, 2005.
Thanks to the generous support of the North Shore Mayor’s Golf Tournament, through the North Shore Community Foundation, a training kitchen was put into operation, with an employment program that provides all the meals for shelter guests while teaching valuable skills to people living in extreme poverty – now operated by HAVE, our Sakura So tenant.