1 year after Camp Hope, Regina's homeless prepare for another cold winter after rapid housing project delayed
Residents encouraged to donate to homeless on 'Giving Day' Oct. 8 in Pepsi Park
The sun is out on an early Monday evening in Regina, but many can feel the temperature dropping. They include Randy, a former Camp Hope resident who is about to embark on another winter while homeless.
Randy, whose last name CBC agreed not to use, lives with a handful of other homeless people in a small tent encampment. He had an appointment to look at an affordable housing unit the day he spoke with CBC, but chose to stay with the others out of concern.
Randy watches out for the others, in case of an overdose.
This week marks one year since the encampment that would become Camp Hope in Pepsi Park (Core Park) began to take form.
The tent city sprung up after the death of a woman named Marjorie, who was homeless at the time. She died of an overdose in Victoria Park in October 2021.
Randy says his current living situation is worse than Camp Hope, which was heated and brought in many community donations.
"Here it's more rough," Randy said, as his tent-mates boiled soup over a fire.
"I wanna see these people have housing, not for a year or six months. Get a place longer. [Get people] to help them to go to see a place."
Back in fall 2021, camp organizers told CBC News that the homelessness situation in Regina was made worse by the government transitioning to the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program. Anti-poverty advocates argued that the new program did not provide enough financial support for someone to live on and that landlords not being paid rent directly under SIS made evictions more likely.
At its peak, Camp Hope had about 70 tents and more than 100 residents, according to camp organizer Alysia Johnson, who is now a spokesperson for the Rally Around Homelessness organization.
"It was the perfect storm. We had changes in social services that were negatively impacting people. We had the opioid epidemic crisis, which last year was a record-breaking year. This year is on pace to be yet another record-breaking year," Johnson said.
Johnson knows many of the locals dealing with homelessness. She is in constant contact with former Camp Hope residents and others who are open to sharing. This connection allows Johnson to keep her finger on the pulse of what struggles they are facing.
"Right now, as things get colder, you're going to see more people trying to find shelter in sheds," Johnson said.
The City of Regina has told Rally Against Homelessness that if another tent city like Camp Hope pops up this winter, the city will tear it down.
"The reality is there reaches a breaking point where there's too many [tents] and it flips into something different," said Mayor Sandra Masters.
Post-Camp Hope
On Nov.12, 2021, the city announced a plan to move some Camp Hope residents into an indoor emergency shelter run in collaboration with Regina Treaty Status Indian Services. The shelter had 40 beds, not enough to house everyone.
Johnson says some of those who did not go to the shelter were sent to hotels. Others were left behind.
The city acknowledged at the time that the indoor shelter was only a temporary solution. Erica Beaudin, executive director of the Regina Treaty Status Indian Services, says there was also a struggle to get clients at the shelter to accept help with issues such as addictions.
"Was it the perfect solution? I don't believe it was, because I don't believe that the perfect solution with the resources that are needed is available right now," Beaudin said.
Many homeless people Beaudin comes into contact with are Indigenous. She says people need to understand that lack of reliable housing is just one part of what keeps an individual on the streets.
"Displacement from their homelands, displacement from family systems, incredible negative responses and interactions with government, especially when it comes to education, health, the criminal system, the child welfare system," Beaudin said.
"That's why it is so important to understand that it's not just putting people cookie-cutter into apartments, into emergency shelters. Because until there are resources and there's understanding and there's support … these issues will always come back to haunt the person."
Rapid housing initiative delayed due to supply chain issues
One year after Camp Hope, Regina has made little progress on stable housing for the homeless.
The biggest project in the works is Regina's rapid housing initiative, a 29-unit permanent supportive housing development. Silver Sage Housing Corporation is heading up the project in partnership with the city and Regina Treaty Status Indian Services.
WATCH| Regina's homeless population faces bitterly cold winter, rapid housing delays:
The project has been delayed significantly. The units were supposed to be ready by now, but now the projected completion date is August 2023, due to pandemic-related supply issues. Beaudin says people will be able to move in during September 2023.
Many people preferred Camp Hope to temporary beds. Randy, who is living in tents with others, says many value their independence and have a hard time fitting in at a structured, monitored living situation.
Mayor Masters said she understands those sentiments, but that tent cities are not safe in Saskatchewan's winter.
"We are going to reach a point where the temperature will simply will not allow that to continue, and so alternate forms of shelter are going to need to be found," Masters said.
"There is space for individuals indoors at night and it's not ideal. I don't think anybody would claim that, but it keeps people alive."
Masters also noted that the city has made some progress.
"We do have 24 permanent supportive housing units that were created out of the 40 that were temporary in the shelter. And so that is 24 more than we started this time last year with," Masters said.
Provincial aid
In a statement to the CBC, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Social Services said it stood by the SIS program, and is also working to address chronic homelessness with Indigenous and community partners.
The ministry has teamed up with Regina Treaty Status Indian Services to provide supportive housing and says it partners with Salvation Army to offer emergency shelter beds.
Furthermore, it says it provides emergency support if an individual needs food or shelter.
Rally Around Homelessness' Johnson says she's pleased with the work that is being done to create housing, but is concerned different levels of government will lose momentum.
"My greatest fear is that at some point we're going to roll out the mission accomplished banner and say, look, we've got the capacity issues under control, we've got more space, but we're not going to look at the lives that were lost in getting to that place."
Johnson says that of the Camp Hope residents who were not moved into temporary housing, nearly one in five have died since last November.
Giving Day
Rally Around Homelessness successfully petitioned the city to make Oct. 8 'Giving Day' in Regina. Johnson is encouraging residents to visit Pepsi Park and donate thermals, mitts, food and anything else that could help make this winter easier for the homeless.
"We don't want to see people walking around trying to use socks for gloves this winter. That's always really heartbreaking," Johnson said.
She said it's sad to know the solutions they seek won't be in place for the coming winter.
"We're just trying to do what we can to make sure that we can bring as much comfort and warmth as possible."
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