As the long, cold nights continue, several Meadow Lake residents agree a greater solution must be found to address the community’s ongoing homeless crisis. Recently, local businesses owner Carla Silver turned to social media to express her concerns about the situation when members of Meadow Lake’s homeless population were once again discovered using the vestibule at the RBC branch on Centre Street as a place of refuge from the outside elements. “This makes me sad and mad on many levels,” Silver remarked via Facebook. “Firstly, because people use this as a place to sleep and hang out from the cold. Secondly, it’s also used to do drugs and sell drugs. And, thirdly, because nothing is being done about this, meaning RBC isn’t doing anything and those of us using Royal Bank either decide not to use it because of what’s going on in there or we take the chance and use the ATM. Seriously, something needs to be done about this.”
Silver also suggested RBC install a loitering deterrent alarm and camera or sensor system. “How about we vote our service charges go to something like this so it is safe and easy for us to use the ATMs we pay to use?” she asked. “And, why does the cleanup have to be done by (local) RBC employees or the RCMP officers who come to ensure the people leave? Maybe the RBC big wigs can come down and clean it since they’re not doing anything to deter it. What are your suggestions, Meadow Lake?”
Cliff McKay responded by stating, much like Innovation Federal Credit Union, RBC could lock its doors after hours to everyone, including clients. “That, to me, is worse,” he said. “FOB machines work to a point, but the homeless are crafty and figure ways around that system…. It’s frustrating to say the least, and this is on the rise and not only in our community. Our programs are failing in many areas. Change is needed.” This was echoed by Candace Regnier who also commented on Silver’s initial post. “As a community we need to do better to accommodate the homeless in cold weather,” she said.
Silver agreed, acknowledging the fact the Meadow Lake Homeplate shelter is open during the evenings (from 8 p.m. onward) in a location situated mere blocks from the downtown core. “It definitely needs to be addressed,” she said. “(There are) a lot of new faces in town and maybe some of those new faces should be calling family or people back home to come and get them because clearly Meadow Lake can’t handle the numbers of homeless now here. It is a huge problem and it is everywhere, but it seems the only way things get changed or get done is if people get angry or fed up, and maybe that’s what we need to do to get the city to start doing better or the banks to start looking after their clients or just for us as humans to try to find solutions for these other humans that clearly are having troubles.”
In a subsequent post, Silver went on to share an encounter she had with two homeless people who were discovered sleeping inside the RBC’s ATM area last Tuesday evening (March 3). One individual claimed to be from Beauval while the other said he was from Saskatoon, and they were waiting for the shelter to open at 8 p.m. “My heart wanted to bring them into The Shop (her business), but I know that is not safe and I cannot make a habit to do that,” she noted. “I asked them if they could maybe go to the restaurant down the street, but they said they had no money and wouldn’t want to try to hang out for a few hours if they couldn’t even buy a coffee. They didn’t want anything from me, they just wanted the time to pass until they could get to the shelter.”
According to Bill Sclater of the Meadow Lake Homeplate Shelter Coalition Corp., it would be ideal if the shelter could be open earlier to help address the situation in question. Current funding, however, simply won’t allow for it. “Homeplate is funded totally this year by the provincial government’s Ministry of Social Services, as well as the Reaching Home program, which is federal government money administer by the Métis Nation,” Sclater told Northern Pride. “In our initial year, we were open for four months only. Last year, we were open for eight months – Oct. 15 to June 15. This year, we have enough funding to operate for the entire year, but we can’t be open 24/7. We just don’t have the resources. We’re trying to do what we can.” Sclater went on to say it is extremely costly to operate the shelter. “We’re probably looking at about $26,000 a month,” he said.
Starting this weekend, however, the shelter will be open Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a move Homeplate hopes will help alleviate the problem somewhat. “We usually have at least 10 people stay at the shelter,” he added. “Our capacity is 18, and there have also been times when we’ve been near capacity. We also have the Knights of Hope van, which is operated by the Door of Hope. It makes several stops throughout the evening at various locations. People can use this service to get to the next stop or to the shelter if it’s open. But, it doesn’t matter if the shelter is open or not, there are some who will only come there for a meal. We have shower facilities and laundry facilities they also use, but they will then leave because of their addiction problems. Addiction is one of the main reasons people are homeless, and I’ve talked to certain people who are homeless, I’be asked them to stay at the shelter and the answer is often no from many of them.”
Contrary to popular opinion, Sclater also confirmed the shelter will accept people even if they’re impaired by alcohol or drugs. “As long as they are not disruptive, we will accept anyone who needs the shelter,” he said. “We’ve accepted people who are drunk or high, as long as they’re minding their own business and not being disruptive. If they’re disruptive or threatening, they will be asked to leave. I believe there’s only one person who has been banned forever unless he changes his ways because of threats that were made.” Sclater said this individual is the exception to the rule, adding most are vulnerable people in need of help. As for the concerns regarding homeless people sleeping and/or squatting inside the RBC, Sclater said the homeless situation in Meadow Lake is not Homeplate’s problem to solve. “We understand the problem,” he said. “And, if we could secure more resources, we would be open longer hours. We’ve talked about possibly expanding our hours, and, in speaking with our current staff, we feel the Saturday and Sunday thing could be a good start. If we get more help next year from the various agencies who should be helping us, it would likely mean the shelter could be open from about 4 p.m. onward. We just need the resources to make it work. But, once people are outside of the Door of Hope or the shelter, we’re not responsible for anybody’s behaviour. We hope bad things don’t happen, but we’re just not responsible for people’s behaviour beyond what we’re able to control.”
Meanwhile, when asked about what the bank plans to do about homeless people utilizing its building as a place of refuge, RBC officials said they are well aware of the situation. “We take the safety and well-being of our clients, employees, and community seriously,” stated Dale Rohovich, RBC regional vice-president for northern Saskatchewan. “We are actively exploring solutions to prioritize the safety of those visiting our premises. We will update our clients through our Meadow Lake branch of future changes. We apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused and encourage clients to contact us if they have questions or concerns.”
As for the perspective of the police, S/Sgt. Carl Dinsdale – detachment commander for the Meadow Lake RCMP – said he and his officers share the community’s concerns about issues arising from the local unhoused persons population. “Unfortunately, this is a complex and multi-faceted situation that will require the collective attention of many different agencies to address,” Dinsdale said. “When receiving complaints regarding loitering in public lobbies, we respond and address any criminal aspects to the situation, referring the subjects to local resources for assistance with what may be possible contributing issues to their situation, be it addictions, mental health, etc. Unfortunately, there is a lack of resources to address all the needs we currently face. The RCMP continues to work with partners at the Meadow Lake Interagency Group, the Door of Hope and other service providers to begin addressing this issue.”