Church in the Hood keeping Saskatoon residents in the cold warm overnight

Ralph Nicotine is the founder of Church in the Hood Ministries in Saskatoon.

Church in the Hood started in 2014, welcoming everyone from gang members and sex workers to city councillors to their service, and has grown to have around 200 members who attend on Saturday evenings.

Although the church does not actually have a building to worship in just yet, they have been gathering in Nicotine’s back yard in the summers, and going to another church in the winters.

Nicotine was inspired to help people battle the cold when he heard about someone who recently lost their life on the streets.

Group members began giving out soup and coffee in front of Warehouse YXE before someone who wishes to be anonymous generously leased them a school bus for $1 a month to continue their efforts until the end of March 2023.

“It struck my heart. Compassion, to go out to the street and be a safe place for people to come warm up,” said Nicotine.

Adding, the bus is for anyone who needs it, not just the homeless.

The bus runs from sundown to sunrise every day of the week except Sunday, keeping people warm, fed and safe every night.

Nicotine said he shuts down the bus whenever there is somewhere else open again for people to go, then he sleeps and spends time with his family throughout the rest of the day before waking up to do it all over again.

“We give out about 100 bowls of soup every night and about 10 pots of coffee.”

The last study done by Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) in April 2022 showed 550 people were living without a roof over their head.

However, that number is likely nowhere near the actual amount according to SHIP Communications Director Brenna Sych.

“There’s just not enough supports overall to be able to support people the homeless population and to support the vulnerable people.,” said Sych.

There are a list of warming locations for people to go throughout the day, but there are currently no locations in the city that provide come-and-go warming stations over night.

Saskatoon Fire Department Chief Morgan Hackl said Prairie Harm Reduction expects to open their doors as a safe space through the late hours sometime around mid to late December.

“The warmup locations for after-hours are still being finalized,” said Hackl.

In the meantime, Church in the Hood members have a unique opportunity to connect with those in need.

Volunteer and member of the church, Gordon Dieter said, “It’s wonderful to talk to people and share a prayer with them at the same time.”

However, the bus runs on donations, and costs to run the bus every night range from $350-$400 between food, supplies and diesel.

Anyone wanting to donate can contact Nicotine on their Facebook page.