The B.C. government is staying silent on whether five homeless shelters in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside will remain open.

The program, brought in by the province and the City of Vancouver five months ago, has taken 450 people off the streets but runs out of funding next month.

At the Central Street homeless shelter, near the Main Street SkyTrain Station, Steve Nolting has found a place to call home.

"There's days I just get totally drained and I can't keep up my appointments. So far everything is going good," he said.

Police have reported a 30 per cent drop in crime around the shelters, and those running them say they have been able to help homeless people find jobs and gain permanent housing.

"In the five months since we opened we've got 50 people into homes," Ted Francis, a supervisor at the shelter, said. "Their own places they can call home. And many of them have come back and said they wouldn't have had that chance if we weren't here."

"If no one is working for you, if there's no one saying good morning to you, everything kind of deteriorates. That's where generally you fall into those cracks... and think... I might as well take that next hit... look for the next drink," Harold Michell, a worker at the Central Street Homeless Shelter, said.

It costs about $500,000 a month to run the five shelters, which include First United Church, 201 Central, the Stanley New Fountain, 1435 Granville and 1442 Howe Street.

Vancouver's mayor, Gregor Robertson, would like to see a commitment made to the program.

"We don't have any guarantee of ongoing funding from the province and we need their assurances so that we can keep running, keep our operators in place, and staff there and ultimately keep these shelters going year round," Robertson said.

Despite repeated calls to Provincial Housing Minister Rich Coleman, his assistant said he was not available.

But the assistant did confirm that a decision won't be made until after a new cabinet is appointed, in several weeks' time.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry.