New team in Regina aims to address homelessness

You might spot a new team working to address homelessness in Regina’s downtown.

The Regina Street Team, formerly known as the Downtown Regina Community Support Program, aims to help individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use-related distress.

The new team is a project some well-known organizations that have operated in the community for quite some time. The Regina Street Team was created through a collaboration between groups including the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District and The Comeback Society.

The team’s new logo. (Roman Hayter/980 CJME)

Not only does the group have a new name, but it also has some new resources as well, including a van provided by Capital Auto Group which will give the team some more mobility.

Robert Kraushaar is the street team’s clinical program manager. He said the name has changed, but the mission to help the homeless remains the same.

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“We just want to walk alongside them and help open doors that they don’t have access to, and just make things easier for them,” said Kraushaar.

Jason Knudsen, the team’s outreach program manager, explained that the group is different from others because they go to the problem rather than waiting for the problem to come to them.

“When we find that there is a system that’s not working properly, we can address the immediate need and make sure that gap is filled long term,” said Knudsen.

The team currently has 13 members, but they plan to hire more in the future.