Emergency shelters full as Regina hit with another snowfall warning

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As Regina braces for its second snowstorm of the week, Cora Gajari says it “feels horrible” to have to turn people away from much-needed shelter.

“We have a lot of people calling for space and we just don’t have the room,” said Gajari, who is the senior director of women’s housing for YWCA Regina, in an interview Friday.

The organization runs three emergency shelters for women, including My Aunt’s Place, the Isabel Johnson Shelter and Joan’s Place.

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“We try to find them alternative spaces, but the spaces for the people in the city are few and far between.”

She said the main thing she’s heard from vulnerable residents looking for a warm place to land this week is that they have nowhere to go.

The other shelters in the city are usually also full and while the YWCA recommends trying to find family to stay with, Gajari recognized that may not be an option for a lot of people. She said the organization’s last resort is to connect those in need of shelter with Mobile Crisis Services.

The city was slammed with approximately 15 centimetres of snow on Tuesday. High winds Wednesday made clean up challenging for city crews and slow-moving traffic and stuck vehicles plagued the city for much of the day.

Another 15 to 25 centimetres of snow is expected to hit Regina over the weekend before minus temperatures dip to the mid-teens Monday. Snow will begin Saturday morning near the Alberta border and reach the Manitoba border by late Saturday afternoon, according to Environment Canada. A snowfall warning was issued for Regina shortly before 1 p.m. Friday.

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“Obviously some people come into shelters when it gets colder,” said Maj. Karen Hoeft, executive director of Regina Waterston Ministries, on Friday.

The shelter, which serves males, transgender males and the gender diverse, has 26 emergency beds funded through a contract with the province. They recently opened up nine additional beds funded by the Salvation Army as part of a cold weather strategy. But she said last night, all beds were full.

“We recognize that shelters … are a tough space to be because you’re in a shared living space with multiple other people,” Hoeft said. “So we always work to help people find the housing opportunities that will suit them.”

Gajari said cold weather always makes demand spike, but that the YWCA’s shelters are typically full year-round.

In late September, Regina city council approved the purchase of a property to turn into a permanent emergency homeless shelter in the Heritage neighbourhood. It will replace a temporary shelter currently being operated by Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services (RT/SIS) at The Nest Health Centre in partnership with the city and province next summer.

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While many agreed it was a positive step forward, one advocate argued more is needed.

“It’s hard to declare a victory, because we’re just maintaining the status quo,” said Rally Around Homelessness (RAH) organizer Alysia Johnson at the time. RAH co-ordinates supports for people who are unhoused or in need of resources in Regina. Johnson called it a reactive stopgap and has urged residents to demand change to social assistance programs that many say are not working.

A full list of emergency shelters as well as a “survival guide” and map for Regina can be found at mobilecrisis.ca/emergency-shelters/. The guide includes names, addresses and phone numbers for the city’s emergency shelters, community services, community care organizations and more.

Mobile Crisis encourages anyone who cannot find an available shelter bed to contact them at 306-757-0127.

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