Camp Hope volunteers throw 12-year-old boy surprise birthday party

Regina’s Camp Hope — formerly known as Camp Marjorie — has been home to dozens of individuals facing homeless since early October, and now that winter-like conditions have arrived, residents at the camp have the option to head indoors.

An emergency shelter on Hamilton Street in the city’s Warehouse District will become an additional space to seek refuge for Camp Hope residents and others facing housing insecurity as the city announced on Friday that it was able to secure a six-month lease for the facility.

Regina Treaty Status Indian Services (RTSIS) will be leading the transition and operating the emergency centre. Residents began packing up on Friday and the transition from the campsite to the new facility is expected to be complete by Monday morning.

Camp volunteers, who have collectively put in thousands of hours into ensuring the camp runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible had another reason to celebrate on Saturday evening, as they took some time to celebrate a 12-year-old boy who was once a resident at the camp with his dad.

Over the weekend, Alijah Kay received a second chance to celebrate his special day.

Camp volunteers say Alijah found himself at the camp on Oct. 6, around his birthday and around the time the camp first formed, after he and his father were evicted due to a series of unfortunate circumstances.

“It was quite heartbreaking because children are supposed to have great memories on their birthday, and for Alijah and his dad, that wasn’t the case,” said Chasity Delorme, who spearheaded the surprise birthday party.

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Delorme said everything for the party was donated, adding that Alijah and his father now have a stable living situation and are on track to finding permanent housing, all thanks to the immediate support they received from community members.

“When we combat homelessness or houselessness, as a community, these situations definitely don’t have to be this way,” she said.

“Children should never have to be affected by homelessness and unfortunately, the reality is unless funding situations change, policies change … this is going to be an ongoing issue,” Delorme said.

Alijah said he’s very thankful to everyone who helped put the event together and enjoyed the surprise. He added that he will remember the surprise for years to come.

In terms of current residents at the camp, organizer Shylo Stevenson says even though the new facility — which was secured by the city — will only be able to house 40 out of the more than 100 individuals who have recently been using the camp, it’s still a step in the right direction.

“We are accepting of the 40 beds. That’s 40 (more) beds than what we never had,” Stevenson said.

“So, there are still other agencies in Regina…. It’s not like starting from scratch with new resources, those resources are just being added to.”

Stevenson also says there are mixed feelings about the new shelter among residents.

“There are some that are excited and can’t wait to go. There’s also on the other side of the coin — some that don’t want to go,” he said.

“It’s a new area. There are previous (negative) encounters with shelters.”

Stevenson, the communications officer with Regina Needle Recovery and Community Support, said that although his team will be taking a step back when it comes to the new facility, they’ll still be around to help in other ways when it comes to assisting individuals facing addiction, homelessness, poverty and food scarcity.