Sitting between an alleyway and an empty parking lot in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood, a small tent of tarps, old wooden planks and blankets is considered home for Randy’s family of three. They have been here since November.

Stuck in a cycle of trauma and addiction, Randy and his two children experience harsh weather conditions, dependence on a lethal drug and a serious lack of care in the Queen City.

Upon entering Randy’s home, a wave of warm air pours out past the hanging tarps and plywood door. To the immediate left, a furnace produces a strong, burnt rubber odour. 

Blankets are sprawled across the ground, a few two-by-four planks separate their home into two levels and some framed pictures are mounted wherever they can hold.

Randy sits comfortably, a few feet away from the door. After accepting an offering of tobacco, he speaks about his time spent living on the streets of Regina, a city of 249,432 according to World Population Index.

Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan: The Homeless Hub has counted 488 individuals experiencing houselessness, 79 per cent of whom are Indigenous. This is over twice the percentage of Indigenous houselessness rates of the Canadian cities of Halifax, Windsor, Calgary, Toronto and Moncton.

Although the space is small, Randy opens up his doors for others who need help. He also has Narcan, a life-saving anti-opioid, available and knows how to administer it.

He recalls a time when a couple came crying, asking for somewhere to warm up.

“They almost froze out there,” says Randy. “That girl was just crying, ‘I’m cold.’ I had to call them in here, ‘Come in, warm up over here.’ They slept a couple hours, then they got up and left.”

Freezing Death Rates in Saskatchewan:

In 2021-22, the Saskatchewan Coroners Service reported 28 freezing deaths from hypothermia, of which 15 were related to alcohol and drug use. 

This wouldn’t be the first time Randy took initiative to help those in need. In 2021, Camp Hope, a tent community was established in the Heritage neighborhood’s Pepsi Park. At this time, Randy was given a manager position, with a house and a stable income. 

After the camp’s closure, he continued advocating for the people of the community. 

But when it was brought to his attention that his son was living on the streets, Randy rushed to join him.

“People call it crazy,” says Shylo Stevenson, a pharmacy assistant and recovery coach at the Queen City Wellness Pharmacy. “But he’s just being a good dad the way he sees it. He’s smart, intelligent. They’re from up north, he knows how to survive off the land.”

“This is how it is when you’re homeless, if you don’t know how to survive out there, then you end up freezing.” 

— Randy 

Another individual Stevenson regularly checks in on in the neighbourhood is Ryan, who visits Randy’s encampment often.

“I walk around, find stuff I can sell for, I hate to say, but my next fix,” says Ryan. “Life is life, I guess. I’m really happy it’s going to be spring soon.”

Indigenous belief calls spring a time for rebirth and renewal. Ryan aims to change his life in the near future.

Stevenson says not only do the physical limitations keep people in these dark cycles, but the stigmatization of these individuals is just as hurtful. He says if more people took the time to understand and listen, things could change.

“When you sit and talk with them you get to know them and a lot of them are like family for me,” says Stevenson. “We’re all kin in our Indigenous way.”

Houseless individuals stream into the Queen City Wellness Pharmacy bright and early, looking for a place to warm up.

It provides mental health aid, physical check-ups, medications, clothing and a place for houseless people to have some coffee and a snack while warming up. Those who are without a place to sleep at night may often come in with cases of frostbite or more serious injuries. 

“It’s a really good team environment,” says Toula Bamnouvong, one of the nurses at the pharmacy. “I work with the pharmacists and the doctors trying to help the patients or the clients here navigate appointments and their medications.”

 As Bamnouvong speaks, she gently dresses the wounds of Kevin, a houseless individual from the Heritage neighbourhood who comes by the pharmacy when injured.

The pharmacy is a safe space for everyone, especially those facing addiction, houselessness and financial insecurity.

“I do little treatments that I can here to help them in case they don’t want to go to the hospital,” says Bamnouvong. She examines patients and treats their wounds, referring them to the medi-clinic nearby for things such as x-rays if needed.

Physical and mental care, such as addictions counsellors and mental health workers, also come on-site to provide support to the Heritage community. 

“I find that a lot of our clients here just need some encouragement to go get some care,” says Bamnouvong. 

There are 20 shelters across the city whose goal is to help take houseless individuals out of the cold.

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UNDISCLOSED LOCATIONS:

Safe Temporary Housing, run by Transition House: 25 beds, 2 emergency beds. Takes non-male identifying individuals. People can stay on a 21 day case plan. Non-sober shelter. Contact: 306.569.2292

Wichihik Iskewewak Safe House (WISH), run by File Hill Qu’Appelle Tribal Council: Takes women and children fleeing abuse. Contact: 306.543.0493

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One of the shelters near the pharmacy is The Salvation Army, which houses up to 27 men in its emergency shelter units, yet the shelter has not been reaching full capacity every night.

“Some nights we might have five extra beds, some nights 10, some nights none,” says Karen Hoeft, the executive director of Salvation Army Regina.

The emergency shelter has social workers who can help find transitional units for individuals who are ready for more independent living. 

“Every case is different, so there isn’t a one-way through it,” says Hoeft. “It always comes back to the individual.”

Addiction can be one of the causes behind houselessness and a major contributor why people struggle to obtain stable housing. Intoxication can limit shelter possibilities, because as a public space without a liquor licence it is illegal to have open liquor. 

“The only people who can bring in open liquor are the ones who are in the managed alcohol program, when they are having pours that a doctor has prescribed,” says Hoeft. 

However, The Salvation Army does not breathalyse anyone. According to Hoeft, the decision to get into the shelter is made by how people present themselves.

“If you are stumbling, falling over and generally being in the risk of injuring yourself, we are going to call an ambulance to help you have medical attention,” says Hoeft. “If you are belligerent or fighting and violent, you can’t stay in our shelter, as you are a risk to other people.

“It is not to their benefit to be in a bed where they are not being observed.”

During Sandra Masters’ successful mayoral campaign in 2020, she pledged to “create an anti-poverty strategy within one year of being elected.”

A few days after recently attending the seventh annual Regina Homeless Memorial, Masters was asked about the current state of the city’s houselessness crisis. 

“In terms of where the city can play, a big part of that is safety, supporting community based organizations in terms of the work they’re doing and advocating into the provincial government,” says Masters. 

Regina City Council, led by Masters, failed to include a line item to end homelessness in the 2023 budget, which led to a public dispute between councillors.

“We have a homelessness failure,” says University of Regina professor Marc Spooner, who is recognized by the Canadian Senate as an expert on homelessness.

“I’ve been an advocate for a long time and there was a time where the city even denied that they had an issue.”

Now, Masters recognizes the city needs to step up.

“In North Central there have been issues identified for decades and I don’t think the city has played an appropriate role in terms of doing its job,” says Masters. 

A “housing first” strategy to combat houselessness has been successful in some cities, but Masters disagrees with the approach. 

“I don’t believe the model is just to throw people into houses,” says Masters. “I think it’s actually destined to fail.”

Instead, the city has focused on providing emergency shelter spaces.

“We have $3 million we’re going to invest in more of a permanent emergency shelter.” 

—Mayor Sandra Masters

While shelter space does provide a temporary fix, Masters says a much bigger solution is needed.

“We need to replace the housing stock that we have with usable 12 to 24 unit apartment blocks,” says Masters.

Masters says that aside from advocating where investments should be made, there isn’t much more the city can do in terms of alleviating houselessness.

“We do roads and we do waste, we do street lighting, we do parks and rec, we do water provision, we do all of these things, but we don’t do social services and we don’t do health,” says Masters. 

Gene Makowsky, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Social Services says the 2023-24 provincial budget includes significant investments for the “most vulnerable” in the province. 

“Talking about the City of Regina, we had this summer an announcement on a 29-unit space that will have supportive living,” says Makowsky. 

The Home Fire Complex is currently under construction. 

The city partnered with Silver Sage Housing and Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, two Indigenous non-profit organizations, for the project.

Part of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative, the building will host a minimum of 29 affordable housing units. A grand opening celebration is set for September.

“In this budget, we have significant increases in income assistance,” says Makowsky. “And overall, a $46 million increase to the budget in all areas on top of $1.4 billion spent on the most vulnerable in our province. And so there are investments on the income assistance side.”

Houselessness advocates do not consider the increases – $30 each to the benefits provided by the Saskatchewan Income Support and Saskatchewan Approved Income for Disability – to be enough. 

“In a time when we have an unexpected sort of billion dollar surplus, and we know that we have a homelessness problem here in Saskatchewan that we haven’t dealt with, I think that the $30 increase was not enough,” says Spooner.

“I think obviously they need to put more resources into that. The direct help. That’s the direct money to people.”

Benefit programs, such as the Saskatchewan Income Support program, help people pay for food, clothing and rent. 

For those working on the frontlines, budget increases such as these do not provide everything needed to rehabilitate and build a community. 

“It’s just simple, right?” says Stevenson “There’s no big million-dollar projects that need to be done.

“We’re building homes and we’re counting the homeless people while at the end of the day, they’re still homeless. So it’s like, what did we accomplish? We just need to get the work done and less talking.”