Saskatoon Tribal Council Wellness Centre to expand space for more shelter beds, counselling room

Saskatoon city council has voted to approve an expansion of the Saskatoon Tribal Council's Wellness Centre.

According to Tribal Chief Mark Arcand, the emergency homeless shelter turns people away due to space every night. He hopes the expansion will mean that won't happen as often.

"Everything's completely full," he said at Monday's city council meeting.

"Just to meet the needs of an average night, we're probably turning away eight to 12 people."

In December, council agreed to let the tribal council use one of its empty office buildings downtown on a temporary basis for the shelter.

Council voted unanimously Monday to allow the wellness centre to use the unoccupied second floor of the building.

The new space will allow for 20 more shelter beds, which will be used by families and people who don't have addictions issues. Arcand said he especially wants to make sure children aren't exposed to outbursts in the shelter.

"We don't want anybody that's healthy to be triggered or expose children to this," he said.

"We don't want them to have trauma because somebody is having a a negative situation that they're going through, whether it be alcohol or drug use."

The Tribal Council set up the emergency shelter in response to a growing need for shelter beds in the city, especially in the face of dropping temperatures. Since it opened in December, it has helped more than 360 people.

The shelter will also use the building's second floor for one-on-one counselling, something that was difficult to find room for in the cramped space.

"The shelter has tried to make sure that there is as much safety as possible and the best opportunities to try and support people who who are there, whether it's families or individuals," said Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark.

"I want to thank everybody for continuing to be able to adapt and make sure that there are spaces available for the community at a time when they're badly needed."

The building's second floor will need to have its ventilation system upgraded, and more fire alarms and smoke detectors will need to be added.

The centre will operate until April 30 at the latest. That's when its lease with the city expires.