Press Releases

The City of Chilliwack is pleased to announce that the vacant building at 45845 Wellington Avenue will soon be put back into use thanks to a new lease agreement with Cyrus Centre.

Cyrus Centre serves as a starting point for youth to exit the streets. The centre will provide meals, shelter, clothing, advocacy, referrals, showers, laundry, life skills, employment coaching and more, and will address an important need in Chilliwack. This need was recently demonstrated in the preliminary results of the 2014 FVRD Homeless Count. A gap in services for homeless youth in Chilliwack has been identified repeatedly through a variety of sources, including the Chilliwack Healthier Community Committee through their recent forum series, the Mayor’s Committee on Housing (2013), and Chilliwack’s Youth Shelter Steering Group (2013).

“The addition of Cyrus Centre in Chilliwack will help address the important need for a youth shelter space and help protect one of the most vulnerable groups in our community,” said Mayor Sharon Gaetz. “One strong point made by the 2014 FVRD Homeless Count report was that we need to work with community partners, both government and non-government, to find innovative ways to reduce homelessness. This is just another innovative way that the City of Chilliwack is addressing that need.”

In terms of location, it is important to both the City of Chilliwack and Cyrus Centre that the centre is properly situated in the community and that commercial property is not utilized for a non-profit purpose. The property at 45845 Wellington Avenue fits the criteria as it was previously used by Chilliwack Community Services, enabling the zoning to remain unchanged for Cyrus Centre. Under the terms of the lease, a good neighbour agreement will also be in place.

Although the move-in date has not yet been confirmed, the City of Chilliwack is looking forward to the addition of Cyrus Centre on Wellington. This is another excellent opportunity to work in partnership and utilize an organization’s expertise to address a need in Chilliwack.