Regina homeless man frustrated over lack of affordable housing

One of Regina’s homelss is frustrated over the lack of affordable housing and limited shelter spaces.

Joseph Raynolds has been homeless for months. 

He doesn’t sleep at Victoria Park but he does visit the Occupy Regina camp daily.  

“Regina needs shelters where they can go for the night, where they don’t need to get approved by Social Services in order to stay here,” he said.  

At the Souls Harbour Mission, people are never turned away, even when all 24 beds are full.  

But at the Salvation Army, people can only stay until the next business day.  

Only those physically or mentally unable to care for themselves can sleep here longer.  

The homeless are directed to social services the next day to see if they qualify for welfare, but Raynolds says that process is too complicated.  

“You have to push through so many steps to get on social assistance and a lot of people get fed up and say to hell with it, I’m not going through all those steps.” 

Under social services, an adult gets $330 a month for accommodation. 

The executive director of the Salvation Army, Robert Sessford, says that amount won’t cover rent in Regina.  

He would like to see more affordable housing built or the amount provided increase.  

The Saskatchewan Party has said they are working to create more affordable housing. In their platform, they say they will create more than 46 thousand units over the next five years.  

Something that advocates for the homeless say is badly needed.