Saskatchewan

Regina organization says new shelter in the works for people with addictions

The lease for a 40-bed emergency shelter in the Regina's Warehouse District expires next week. Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, which runs the space with provincial funding, says plans are underway for a new temporary facility that focuses on addictions supports.

Regina Treaty/Status Indian Service says temporary facility slated to replace 40-bed emergency space

Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, which ran an indoor emergency shelter in the city over the winter, tells CBC News plans are underway for a new temporary facility that focuses on addictions supports. (Logan Turner/CBC)

A new temporary shelter that focuses on people with addictions could soon be coming to Regina.

It would replace the 40-bed emergency space set up last fall in the city's Warehouse District, Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services (RT/SIS) — which runs the facility through funding from the Saskatchewan government — told CBC News.

RT/SIS says the goal is to have harm reduction supports set up 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help the roughly two dozen people planning to stay there.

While many details still need to be finalized, RT/SIS says all levels of government are working with community-based organizations to make the new space a reality.

More information is expected next week, which is also when the current 40-bed shelter is set to be dismantled due to an expired building lease with the City of Regina.

That shelter was set up last November in response to a tent community, called Camp Hope, that popped up in Pepsi Park.

The move to the indoor facility left dozens of houseless people scrambling to find other accommodations.

It's still unclear where those currently staying at the indoor shelter will go, once the building lease expires next week.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessie Anton

Journalist

Jessie Anton is a Regina-based journalist with CBC Saskatchewan. She began sharing stories from across the province on television, radio and online in 2016, after getting her start in the rural weekly newspaper world. Email her at jessie.anton@cbc.ca.