‘Desperately needed:’ Emergency shelter poised to open in Regina

A single bed, a quilt, a desk and chair, and a curtain for some much-needed privacy: All are things that can be found in the individual pods at the newest emergency shelter set to open in downtown Regina on Monday.

Erica Beaudin, executive director of Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services (RT/SIS), took media and community leaders on a tour of the new facility — called The Gathering Place: New Beginnings — on Thursday afternoon.

Beaudin has been working on making this shelter a reality with the city and other partners since August. After so much work and with opening day coming up quickly, Beaudin said she’s overwhelmed.

“Overwhelmed with gratitude that we will be opening on Monday and be able to provide a service that’s so desperately needed,” she said.

Beaudin said she and the others working there feel blessed that they’re going to be part of the solution to such a serious problem.

“We don’t work just when it gets cold with people who need homes. At the RT/SIS we work with people who are houseless, homeless, couch-surfing every single day. And we know we hold that burden. As well as other agencies, we’re not alone in knowing that there are people that are hungry out there, that are cold, that every day could be a life-and-death situation,” said Beaudin.

This is the second winter in a row RT/SIS and the City of Regina have worked together and opened an emergency shelter — both times in response to a need in the community.

The first was in the Warehouse District and was sourced and put together quickly. Beaudin said the biggest difference between that one and this new shelter is space for wrap-around and support services.

“(In the first shelter) we had the ability to cover basic needs of shelter and food, but that’s just a start. And so while we were able to help stabilize, what we weren’t able to do unless we went off site was a lot of those outreach services that really make a difference in people moving forward,” she explained.

Beaudin said she’s grateful for that first shelter but called the new one “a five-star” compared to it.

This shelter is in the former YMCA building on 13th Avenue. It was originally being turned into a health and wellness centre by The Nest, but the company is donating the space for a few months for this project as well as a doctor for three hours a week to tend to the residents in need.

Outside the pods, there are commons areas with couches and a TV with cable, and tables and chairs so residents can play cards and games together.

Elsewhere in the building there are individual rooms for meetings with counsellors and case workers, a room for doctor visits, and larger meeting rooms for support like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There are also lockers for resident storage including any drugs or weapons they might have.

It’s been outfitted with an industrial kitchen so residents can be provided with freshly made nutritious and filling meals, something Beaudin says is important to reset a person’s headspace.

In the first shelter, Beaudin found they had a lot of residents where they had children not in their care, which can be difficult. But this year she’s excited the shelter has space for residents to have supervised visits with their children.

“Oftentimes what we have found … is that if we can’t find hope for ourselves to live differently and better, our children are often that impetus, that missing puzzle piece that has us want better for ourselves,” said Beaudin.

The first shelter last winter had about 300 people through the doors, and according to Beaudin, RT/SIS is still working with about half those people – though she added some have died since.

Even before opening, the new shelter is expected to be at capacity with the 40 available beds full and a waiting list already growing.

The City of Regina is planning to pause its warming bus program when the shelter opens but will watch to see if the need for it continues.

Like the last one, this shelter is set to be temporary, closing in April. But RT/SIS and the city are working together to find something more permanent ahead of next winter.