The Warm Welcome nightly shelter service for the homeless, or those suddenly finding themselves without a place to bed down for the evening, is an established service that is growing in public awareness in the community.
Colleen Jensen, director of hospitality for the shelter, said the shelter pretty runs on a shoestring budget, but it is able to provide the service thanks to some timely donations and a lot of volunteer help.
The City of Estevan and Mayor Roy Ludwig declared January as Warm Welcome Shelter Month last week and Jensen said she was pleased to have the public exposure. The shelter is run with the co-operation of two local churches. From Wednesday night through to Saturday night, the homeless will find a warm bed and hospitality at St. Paul’s United Church.
On Sunday nights through to Tuesday nights, the shelter is located at the Salvation Army church.
Jensen said it’s nice to have the service provided by these two organizations and the fact they are both centrally located, means those who seek the service would only have a short walk to find a bed for the night. She said it would be better if those who do spend the day on the streets, could be outfitted with ice cleats for their shoes or boots, to make the day and early evening ventures a little safer. “Some of them only have runners,” she said,
There are pros and cons to having the services divided between the two churches, such as parking for volunteers and electrical plug-ins.
Laundry service is available at St. Paul’s and temporary storage of belongings can be a challenge. “We can’t store them during the day, but each location has three lockers available for overnight use.”
The shelter is usually not over-run with guests, she said, with between one and three checking in these days. She said they welcomed a couple of travellers passing through Estevan, looking for work. They were shelter guests for a few nights before returning to their home provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. “Both said the shelter was a big plus for them. It gave them an opportunity to look for work during the day.”
Jensen said a recent $5,000 donation from Vermilion Energy was a big boost to not only the budget, but also volunteer morale. Half the money went toward food purchases and the rest was directed toward a shelter building fund that was started last year with the intention of eventually having it grow to the point where a permanent shelter and service can be established.
“We have a separate account for this fund and those making donations can specify the amount they would like to have directed toward it, and we are a registered charity so there would be a tax receipt,” Jensen explained.
She said other donations from Tim Hortons and the SaskTel Pioneers, who provided backpacks filled with towels and hygiene items, as well as gift cards, were a definite plus.
“Then we have Estevan Leisure Services offering their shower facilities. It’s things like that, that give us confidence the shelter will have another successful year,” she said.
The service begins in the late fall and usually is concluded near the end of March. Those dates can change, according to need and weather.
“The Salvation Army already has a whole stream of community factors they have to tend to, so we try not to put extra burdens on them, or St. Paul’s either. Right now our budget is fine, we can get through this season,” said Jensen, who is in her second year as hospitality director. The shelter program is now in its fifth year.
“If anyone is thinking about volunteering, I will guarantee, it will be something you will remember in a positive way. It keeps us all humble and aware of what we have,” said Jensen.
Her efforts, and those of the volunteers, are backed by a board of directors, chaired by Rory Fleming. They handle the details and red tape items, she said with a smile. “With their input we have a well structured program that is user friendly. I don’t have to be concerned with a whole lot of paper work. That means I can tend to the job and any surfacing problems are nipped in the bud. There is no abuse, we’ve never had any issues and if there might be something brewing, I have the ability to step in … intervene, but really that hasn’t been a problem during my time there. We haven’t had any problems with guests, they appreciate having a place to stay and to enjoy a little conversation. The bit of socializing we do is just as important as the warm bed and a little bit of food we provide. They get a snack after checking in any time past 8 p.m. and a breakfast before they have to depart at 8 a.m. They know the expectations,” Jensen said.
For instance, one guest requested an extra mattress for the floor, and received it with the expectation that he would clean the mattresses properly in the morning.
“The recent cold blast we had, I thought would lead to a higher need and we did welcome two extra guests temporarily, which tells me the program does work and is not being abused. They want to move beyond the shelter and we want them to as well. Maybe some day we can be like Medicine Hat where they have no need for a homeless shelter now, because of their programming. Our list is down to just a few guests, but that could change in January. I know last year we took a spike up in March, which wasn’t expected and at one point we had up to 10 guests, so you never know when and why the shelter may be needed,” Jensen said.
“We really do appreciate the public support and the awareness being brought to the topic by the council and Mayor Ludwig,” said Jensen.
“I can’t say enough about our shift captains and volunteers. A big thanks, always. We can’t take their gifts to our community for granted because we can’t do this without them.”
