“It’s January, and that the public has no idea what that plan is, is unacceptable,” said organizer Tiro Mthembu.
Published Jan 04, 2024 • 4 minute read
A group of community activists and organizers are calling on the city to provide immediate funding for a 24-hour warming hub in north Regina.
Local community organizer Tiro Mthembu, representing Good Trouble Network YQR, stood in arms’ reach of Carmichael Outreach’s community fridge Thursday to issue a call to action, directed at “all levels of government,” including the City of Regina.
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Mthembu said the community is ready to open doors on another warming hub at Carmichael Outreach immediately, if government entities will commit to providing funding.
“We are told that the city has money set aside for a cold weather strategy. It’s January, and that the public has no idea what that plan is, is unacceptable,” Mthembu said
“The constant crisis that we find ourselves in is asking for more money, to just treat people with dignity and respect,” he It’s a disgrace that we continue to have to plead and plead.”
Having another warming space will save lives, said Mthembu. Though this December hasn’t been as frigid as usual, the cold is still dangerous, he said, and several deaths have occurred in the community over the last few weeks.
“We are so tired of hearing how lucky we are that the weather is nice,” Mthembu said. “We mourn all these deaths — the people seeking shelter in abandoned houses that caught fire, and Indigenous woman found dead in a trash can.”
Taejah Friday, fifteen-year-old granddaughter of Camp Hope’s namesake Vivian Marjorie Friday, joined the call to speak in support of the city’s most vulnerable.
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“(We) are trying to ensure that basic needs and human rights are met for all, and a warming center at Carmichael would be a basic support,” she said. “We cannot wait more than we already have.”
Chrysta Garner, development coordinator at Carmichael Outreach, said the organization is on board to run such a space. The hangup, much like last year, is the cost.
Carmichael estimates that to open their doors from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week, until the end of March will require three additional staff and cost $350,000. The agency needs outside funding to cover that.
“It’s a big amount for a short period of time, and it has to do with needing to have properly trained employees to help operate the facility,” said Garner.
Volunteers from across the community are ready to start tomorrow, if called upon, said Mthembu.
Garner said volunteers are more than welcome, but Carmichael would need trained staff on site to provide the level of service the organization would be comfortable with. As a low-barrier facility, the respect that approach garners from people is a trust the agency doesn’t want to lose.
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“We just want to make sure that whoever’s running the nighttime stuff is going to have the same outlook,” she said.
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Mthembu doesn’t think the issue is a lack of money, or willing helping hands, but that “it comes down to political will.”
“I think it’s a very obtainable number, to get that funding. It really falls upon the city, to all levels of government, to take this seriously,” he said.
“We sent city officials to Dubai for less money than this would cost,” he added, referencing a recent trip to the United Nations’ COP28 climate conference by Mayor Sandra Masters and city manager Niki Anderson.
Last year’s warming bus, operated by the city for 72 days total, cost $271,000 — a variance spend that was not in the city’s budget, according to administration. No comparative service is running this winter.
For 2024, an additional $100,000 has been earmarked for “cold weather strategy” grants, following a motion from Coun. Cheryl Stadnichuk to alter the budget in December which passed unanimously.
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Those funds will come from a slight rise in the mill rate on property taxes, equating to $0.06 more per month from the average taxpayer.
Asked during that discussion whether the city was in negotiations with any specific entity to provide specific programs, like a warming space, administration said those details are “confidential.”
“Some discussions with some organizations” happened at meetings of the cold weather strategy committee, said city staff.
Officials from Carmichael have said no meetings with the city to explore funding had occurred yet.
On Thursday, Russell Mitchell-Walker, speaking on behalf of the Warm Welcome Coalition which formed this fall, said they had been in communication with government entities since November, but had no details that could be shared publicly.
The coalition includes local churches, community agencies, volunteers and organizations who have been collaboratively searching for shelter solutions for Regina’ unhoused residents in the winter.
Mitchell-Walker said an overnight warming space would be “huge” for the community.
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“It’s not lucky for anybody still trying to live out in the temperatures that we have presently,” said Mitchell-Walker, of the currently mild weather. “It is urgent, and we need to get this going.”
In an ideal world, Garner said Carmichael would stay open overnight year-round, as an outreach space.
“Everybody that’s come through this door, that’s their dream,” she said. “For now, we have to go with what is attainable, and that is to get this up and running and get people safe, for the time being.”
— with files from Angela Amato
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