Regina homeless shelters expecting busy winter

The first snowflakes of the year haven’t yet fallen, but homeless shelters throughout Regina are already getting the sense that demand for their spaces is going to be high.

Regina’s Salvation Army says it’s already experiencing its shelter at full capacity and expects demand will continue to increase as the winter approaches.

“The Salvation Army is beginning to see a significant increase in demand for shelter. One of the things that we’ve noticed as the cold weather starts to creep upon us is that the need is going to be significantly more,” explained Maj. Al Hoeft, the Regia Salvation Army’s executive director.

“The challenge, of course, is that we’re full already. That puts a real strain on our shelter and the system as a whole.”

Capacity at the shelter is 120 people and Hoeft notes it has been full for most of the year.

While the Salvation Army will continue to attempt to expand capacity, Hoeft explains expanding comes with challenges.

“We’ve worked to increase our capacity internally to make a few more spaces available, but that is always a challenge. Adding more people to the equation always increases risk and always increases the management required for the supports,” he said.

“One of the things that we want to be able to do is provide a safe and secure environment people when they come to us and we want to ensure that’s a safe place for them.”

Hoeft added right now, the Salvation Army also is in need of winter clothing so it can help keep people warm.

“We always need mitts, toques and winter coats,” he said. “In our shelter, we particularly look after men, so we want to make sure we have plenty of winter coats for men who are going to be facing the struggle of staying warm when it drops to -30 C or -40 C.

“One of the things we try to do is collect (clothing items), store them (and) have them at the ready so when someone comes in, whether they stay with us or not, we want to be able to support them.”

Canada is currently home to 250,000 homeless people. At last check in 2021, Regina had 488 people who were homeless.