City of Saskatoon and province consider 60-bed emergency shelter

The city of Saskatoon is continuing to look for places to put two 30-bed emergency shelters, but the two locations could be consolidated into one.

A report to city council Wednesday says that there have been several challenges in finding potential locations.

Site criteria provided for the city included:

• room for approximately 30 beds each
• beds in an open shelter-type hall (with movable wall systems or partitions)
• some private rooms (accessed internally)
• an area suitable for office space for site staff
• showers, bathrooms, kitchen
• internal and external gathering spaces (amenity spaces) available on site be considered
• proximity to other services should be considered
• zoned appropriately if possible, or applicable for consideration under the City’s Emergency Residential Shelter zoning provisions.

Additional criteria imposed by the city included making sure that the potential facilities would be at least 250 metres from any elementary school in the Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools systems.

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“Given the challenges in identifying potential sites, the province and the administration discussed the possibility of a single 60-bed facility, rather than two 30-bed facilities. Both the province and the administration are supportive of this approach, provided a suitable site can be identified and the appropriate operating conditions are in place,” the report said.

A 15-bed complex care facility will be established along Idylwyld Drive, with the report saying that the province intends to open it in the relatively near future.

A 30-bed shelter was being considered for the Sutherland neighbourhood at a former fire hall, but outcry from the community and the new criteria created by the city took that location off the list.

The city is tasked with finding suitable locations for the shelters and will be funded by the Ministry of Social Services.

Karen Kobussen spoke on the topic, saying her daughter lived a “street-affiliated life.”

“She was taken, beaten, burned, held hostage for two and a half days, escaped, came home. She lives that life, she’s still there a year later,” Kobussen said.

Kobussen wondered who was responsible for the homeless crisis in Saskatoon, comparing it to an apartment fire and the quick response that comes with first responders.

“I believe the city would quickly jump into crisis response mode with every resource available to ensure the immediate relocation of folks affected and to support those in need, because they just lost everything, but most importantly, they’ve lost their home.”

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She said in an apartment fire setting, services would be made available to make sure people were safe and secure and human dignity would be prioritized.

“No matter where we live in the city, our neighbourhoods are completely on fire.”

She stressed that the city is in an emergency.

Kobussen said it was disappointing to see that new shelter locations hadn’t been found yet and that there are solutions for homelessness and shelters out there.

She pointed to vacant city land and buildings, saying that the city should be using it, and should also be considering converting empty office spaces into housing.

Jeff Jorgenson, city manager, said it is difficult to find a new shelter space. He said no additional resources were needed from city council to find a location for these shelters, but said that Regina has been looking for a shelter space for the past three years and has also been struggling.

“We remain hopeful that we’ll be able to get those 60 beds sorted out soon,” Jorgenson said.

He said potential locations are being vetted as quickly as possible.