Dying days ahead? Chilliwack low-barrier shelter, overdose prevention site with meals & showers for unhoused people shutting down

Closure of Lookout Housing-run Wellness Centre March 31 'is going to have immediate and far-reaching impacts on both the unhoused population and the broader community’

For those living with addictions in abject poverty without a place to live, the Chilliwack Wellness Centre on Trethewey Avenue is a focal point. It’s a place to see friends, wash up, get a coffee, a meal. 

The Centre is also a temporary home for those using one of the 30 shelter beds. Maybe most importantly, it’s also a place for individuals addicted to illegal substances to use drugs under supervision, which prevents overdose and death. This overdose prevention site (OPS) “has kept people alive,” according to a source that spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the Centre’s days are numbered. The OPS and other day services stop after Tuesday (March 31, 2026), while the low-barrier shelter beds will be shut down on June 30.

During a visit to the neighbourhood on Thursday (March 26), I dropped a bag of cans off at the bottle depot then sat and watched the comings and goings for a little over half an hour. 

A woman with grey hair in a pony tail parked her car near the entrance and gave out coffees and sandwiches to anyone interested. A staff member ran around telling folks nearby on the street about the food. 

In that short time I saw four police cruisers. I also saw Griffin Security talking to someone at the RainCity Housing property next to the bottle depot and other security guards in the Husky Parking lot and in the alley towards Rowat Avenue.

The impact to surrounding businesses is obvious as people gather up against buildings, by overhangs, in corners, eating, sleeping, doing drugs. 

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I watched a young man with a black backpack and dyed green hair chat with a guy who rolled up in front of the Centre on a bike with a trailer. He smiled, chatted, laughed, and while he looked like he was certainly living rough, it looked like a good moment. As I drove away down the alley towards Rowat 30 minutes later, I saw the green-haired young man lying face down on the pavement with two people by his side. A security guard looked on. No one look concerned so, I don’t know, I guess he was OK?

My immediate thought leaving the area was to wonder, if when the OPS closes, will scenes such as what I saw with the green-haired young man increase? Will they decline if people congregate elsewhere in town? Maybe nothing will change?

Far-reaching impacts

“This closure is going to have immediate and far-reaching impacts on both the unhoused population and the broader community,” the anonymous source told Something Worth Reading, adding that the services described above are already in short supply. 

“This decision will not reduce homelessness. It will displace it. People will be forced into more visible and unsafe public spaces, increasing crime in certain areas, the risk of overdose, death, and community strain.”

(I should note, this source with knowledge of the subject is not an employee of the Wellness Centre.)

For some residents and business owners near the Trethewey Avenue facility – that used to be home to the offices of the Chilliwack Times until its closure at the end of 2017 – they won’t be sad to see it gone. 

The few blocks in every direction around the Lookout Housing Society-run shelter are busy with people coming and going, loitering and using drugs, walking into traffic, leaving debris and garbage around, sometimes even fighting and defecating. There is a near constant parade of RCMP officers called to the area for safety concerns, and security guards moving people out of doorways and off business properties.

I’ve heard anecdotal complaints from multiple businesses in the area about some of the above disruptive behaviour over the years. Just in January 2026, several business contacted Chilliwack city council to ask questions about the Centre, about law enforcement, legal liability, and more. Mayor Ken Popove responded with sympathy regarding the concerns, adding that much of the matter is out of municipal hands. Overdose prevention sites are the mandate of the Province. Fraser Health and BC Housing fund the facility, and the specific focus of policing is the responsibility of the RCMP, the mayor explained.

That same group got another letter on March 25, 2026, letting the business owners in on the imminent closure of the Centre, pointing out that it was never intended to be permanent.

Why now? 

Frontline workers from all organizations affiliated to the Chilliwack Wellness Centre were given less than two weeks warning about the shutdown coming on March 31, which is apparently due to Fraser Health’s withdrawal of funding. 

While current shelter residents remain until June, there is no clear plan in place for where they will go afterward. The large Phoenix Society building down the road is in the final days of construction and will have 49 beds where they can move, presumably. That building’s construction completion, however, has been repeatedly delayed. It is four years behind schedule.

“Existing shelters are already overwhelmed, and there is limited willingness or capacity locally to absorb the influx,” the source said.

So why is the Wellness Centre closing? 

It was indeed never intended to be permanent. Email requests to comment on the closure were sent Friday (March 27, 2026) morning to Fraser Health and BC Housing who fund the Wellness Centre, and the Lookout Housing & Health Society that manages it.

Lookout’s director of development Megan Kriger directed questions to the other two agencies as the funders.

A public affairs consultant for Fraser Health did respond and said she would look into questions. By 1:30 pm on Friday, she said she was sorry for the delay and was still working on it but nothing more was received. There was only an automated response from a BC Housing email. An email was sent to a different BC Housing community relations contact after hours on Friday and a spokesperson replied that he would look into it by Monday. On Saturday, he said he would work on a response that day but nothing came through.

This story will be updated and reshared on social media when more information is known.

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Paul J. Henderson
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