Beacon Community Services has announced their year-round youth shelter, ‘Out-of-the-Rain,’ will open on Sunday, October 15th.
According to the release, the shelter has been operating since 1997 but only as a seasonal shelter—open particularly during the cold weather season.
Now, the shelter has been granted funding by BC Housing so they can remain open year round, operating for 12 hours each day and there to offer two daily hot meals, laundry services, and a warm, safe space to sleep!
To celebrate this upcoming community achievement, an onsite mural crafted in collaboration with Jesse Campbell and a team of unhoused youth will be unveiled on Friday, October 6th at 1:30 p.m.!
Campbell is a visual artist of Metis/Cree ancestry who has worked as a professional mural painter for 10 years and has contributed to numerous public art installations throughout Greater Victoria!
As described, the mural depicts “loved ones lost—those who are watching over us as we witness a new day, new dreams and new possibilities and conveys the resilience of unhoused youth.”
Beacon also operates The Lighthouse, supportive youth housing that offers more than critical needs like clothing, shelter, and food—they also provide life skills programming and one-to-one support to access resources like treatment, job programs, and counselling.
“The aim is to offer safe shelter from the streets, but more importantly to provide an opportunity for the youth to stabilize, and begin to make a plan,” said Lighthouse site manager, Emily Jackson.
“[Then] they can ultimately graduate to living the lives they wished for themselves.”
‘Beacon Homeless Youth’ Mural Unveiling Ceremony
- Where: Out of the Rain Youth Shelter, 1450 Elford Street
- When: Friday, October 6th at 1:30 p.m.
