Extreme Weather Alert issued. Outreach begins.

Lennie from Salvation Army's Richmond House Emergency Shelter calls and says he'd like to open up.  I agree.  Lennie calls Richmond Emergency services, who issue the official alert by 10 a.m., emailing, faxing and phoning dozens of agencies in Richmond and the Lower Mainland.

Bottle depot.  Poster visible in bottom right corner of window.

Zac and I head out to do some outreach, trying to spread the word that the shelter is open for the first time this season.  We visit two bottle depots (No 2 and Blundell and near Save On Foods - No 3 and Westminster Hwy). Collecting bottles is a popular source of cash for the homeless.  Neither have the shelter poster displayed, but both agree to post the ones we've brought with us.  

Next we check the library, a popular spot to stay warm, to read and use the internet. I'm delighted to see the poster is already in the windows of the main door.

Library at Brighouse - Extreme Weather Shelter poster in window

Finally, we check the three "secret places" Ben showed Zac the night before.  Each has a street name: "underground", "cubby holes", "concrete jungle".  They are places where you can spend a few hours partially protected from the weather, and partially hidden from sight.   Signs of habitation at the "underground" -- a shopping cart, some cardboard used as a mattress.   Cubby Holes also has some belongings, but no people.   Finally, at Concrete Jungle, we we find Ben and CB, about to be hustled away by a security guard.  They are very pleased to hear the shelter will open tonight, we shake hands and bid them farewell.  Only Ben shows up at the shelter that night.