The snow, wind and cold temperatures are here and those with a roof over their head are turning up the heat.
But for those without a home, it is a dangerous time.
The provincial government recently found a home for a temporary emergency shelter in Saskatoon at 210 Pacific Ave. The shelter will be run by the Mustard Seed. The shelter is expected to open sometime this winter and will offer between 30 and 40 beds.
The city hopes more shelters will follow.
“Ideally, we would be prepared and these locations would be opened in October and that’s our goal,” Pamela Goulden-McLeod, the Saskatoon director of emergency management said.
“We did start working on this in May. We had challenges finding funding, we had challenges finding locations.”
In the meantime, other emergency shelter spaces, including the Salvation Army at St. Mary’s Parish and Prairie Harm Reduction, are doing their part.
On Tuesday, Prairie Harm Reduction announced it would stay open 24/7 for the next week to offer people a warm, safe place until the city’s plan took effect.
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An overnight warming location at the Saskatoon Indian and Metis Friendship is also now operating. It is open from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day.
Goulden-McLeod said Saskatoon Emergency Management is trying to expand these overnight warming centres to become more of a “navigation centre.”
“Each of the sites will have an emergency medical responder,” she said. “We’re working with partners around what other resources can be brought in.
“We’ll be providing overnight outreach: going out and about at night to find people who are outside and help them get to these locations to warm up.”
However, Goulden-McLeod recognizes the need is growing and available spaces may not meet this year’s demand.
David Fineday is one person trying to take matters into his own hands.
Fineday and unhoused people in the community are forming outdoor ‘tent city’ encampments.
One is being planned for the Pleasant Hill community on Saturday.
“It is out on Facebook and it’s going to be huge,” Fineday said. “I want this problem to come to a head. No more dying people.”
The city has stated they do not support the encampments due to unsafe and inadequate living conditions.
“We do want to make sure that everyone has a safe and adequate place to stay, but we also want to make sure that those places are abiding by the property and nuisance abatement bylaw,” Ryan Bradley, the Saskatoon Fire Marshal said.
A report on Saskatoon’s cold weather strategy and its plan for warming shelters is expected to be presented at next Wednesday’s city council meeting.
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