(Facebook/ Safe Harbour Society)

By Ian Gustafson

Significant upgrade

Safe Harbour Society to provide 150 beds for shelter guests

Mar 7, 2025 | 12:53 PM

Safe Harbour Society recently made a move that will improve the quality of life for its residents.

This week the local shelter secured 150 bed frames and mattresses that came from the old army base in Springbrook.

Safe Harbour anticipates the beds will be ready for shelter guests to sleep on by April. The beds will be a massive upgrade for the guests, who up until this point had to sleep on a mat on the floor at the shelter.

Shelter manager Adina McKinnon the amount of people they help every night fluctuates but on average, they see approximately 120 guests throughout the day.

“The fact our guests will have something more comfortable to sleep on is a big deal,” she said.

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“We wanted to create an opportunity where we have more beds as we need them rather than just getting the bare minimum. They’re going to stay permanently whereas right now on a daily basis we have to pick the mats up, clean them, and put them away.”

This was all made possible through a $7,500 donation from The Remnant Church, after Pastor Shawn Hamm spent a week living outside in an attempt to better understand the homeless community.

Safe Harbour had been in discussions to purchase cots for their new sleep program but to find any that were acceptable for cleaning purposes were hard to find. The opportunity to buy the beds came at the perfect time as they discovered it in an online ad.

They preemptively bought a few extra so they have enough throughout the shelter and for their sleep program.

“Those bed frames and beds were in the old barracks and so they wanted to get them to someone who could really use them,” she added.

However, getting the new beds have raised questions about if they’re able to provide enough sheets and pillows for all the beds. McKinnon said they don’t have the laundry facilities to keep up with washing that many sets of sheets every day. They’re going to need bigger washer and driers as they’re doubling the washing requirements.

They’re currently working on a solution for those problems.

“This is one thing I think is an opportunity to do really well. I want to be able to provide all the pieces that would go along with that, that you or I would have,” McKinnon said.

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