Regina police looking to help homeless population with clothing, shelter

The snow is about to fly in Regina once again and that means people are going to be gearing up to face the cold.

While most will be warm at home, there are some who won’t be able to find shelter.

Last year, dozens of homeless people gathered at what was called Camp Hope, located at Pepsi Park.

People pitched tents there for a period of time before the City of Regina was able to come up with a new emergency shelter for them to go to.

So far this year, it’s a lot warmer than last year, but now that winter is knocking on Regina’s door, tents have been popping up in some places throughout the city.

Regina Police Chief Evan Bray says the service is working with partners to make sure those in need have a warm place to stay.

“We’re concerned about that for the fact that’s not a way to live in the winter or summer months. We’ve been working with a lot of our community partners,” Bray said on the Greg Morgan Morning Show.

“There is also an aggressive strategy with the city and province right now to try and find some temporary shelters for the winter. I’m going to remain optimistic that we’ll have some better solutions for those in need.”

Bray also spoke on the situation after a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners on Oct. 25.

He said right now, the homeless situation in the city has never been more prevalent and solutions are needed.

“This has been a problem and it was a problem in the summertime. We’re working with the city to try and find solutions and that solution right now has nothing to do with enforcement,” Bray said after that Oct. 25 meeting.

“The only work and our only concern is keeping people safe, but we also know that living in a tent is not the best option in our city, so we have to find a solution that better helps people and gives them a better quality of life.”

While the police and city continue to work to find a way to avoid another Camp Hope, the RPS tried to help out those in need on Saturday. The service asked people to bring gently used winter clothes to the Northgate Mall parking lot so they could be donated to people in need.