Regina Hawk Principle seek $1M to transform Trinity Church into Hub

A group of community organizations is looking to transform the former Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church into a community hub.

The plan is to purchase the building and make it a centre to address food insecurity and homelessness.

Shawn Koch, Hawk Principle Community Service Cooperative educator, said the centre would also run educational programs and connect people to services.

He said they’ve been in talks with the provincial government to help them secure the funds.

“It should be something where we shouldn’t have to be asking for this, but we do and we know that the government systems, we know that capitalism is failing. So community is here to pick up the pieces and build some systems and we think we have some of the answers,” Koch said on Tuesday.

“It’s not reinventing the wheel, it’s teamwork.”

The Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church has been in service since 1906. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

The group is trying to raise $1 million to purchase the building and secure $1 million per year to operate it.

Koch said the work is vital considering the increase in homelessness, which as of October 2024, had doubled to at least 824 people from 408 in 2021.

“We’ve been in crisis mode for so long, but now we want to get past crisis mode,” Koch said.

“We want to help people get their basic needs and then hit that next level of needs and getting them access to education and art.”

The centre would serve as a valuable stop-gap measure to help reduce pressure from services like Carmichael Outreach, the planned permanent shelter at the Eagles Club and the Regina Police Service.

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Reverend of the former Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Reverend Dr. Sarah Dymund is the former pastor of the Church, which had its congregation closed on Dec. 31, 2024.

She said the church has always served as a vital gathering spot for community members and she would love to see the building repurposed to continue helping people.

“The history and tradition of the connection between this building and this community would is a lovely legacy that the remaining members of the congregation would like to leave,” Dymund said.

Dymund said the current community is in dire need of a service like the proposed hub.

She said the building is listed for $1.19 million and numerous other suitors are looking to buy it as well.

Local volunteer groups support the initiative

Morgan Orthner is with the Hawk Principle and the Heritage Homies YQR volunteer groups.

Orthner often works with people in need of food, shelter access to medical or mental health services.

“We do need to have shelters open for people to come in and just have that basic warm coming in, but we also need a place that can actually connect people, because a lot of these people don’t have any personal support,” Orthner said.

Hawk Principle is working alongside the Good Trouble Network YQR and Heritage Homies YQR in supporting the initiative.

Koch said the goal is to secure the funding by March. 1, 2025. It will hold several fundraising shows and initiatives to work towards it.

The Ministry of Social Services said it was open to the idea of collaboration with community organizations and other levels of government interested in developing new resources or services for homelessness.

“We encourage any interested parties to reach out if they wish to discuss their project,” it said in a statement to 980 CJME.