Multiple Saskatoon agencies call on province for help in COVID-19 battle within vulnerable sector

Saskatoon’s vulnerable and homeless population is feeling the pressures of COVID-19, as cases within the sector rise.

That’s according to members of the Maintenance Committee for the Saskatoon Inter-Agency Response to COVID-19. It held a zoom press conference Tuesday morning, outlining multiple calls to action towards the provincial government.

“There’s a rapidly deteriorating situation around COVID-19 spreading amongst the homeless population in Saskatoon,” stated Colleen Christopherson-Cote, a member of the group.

“We’re asking for the provincial government and all the human service ministries to come together, to talk about how we can move this work forward in a more collective and responsive way.”

What the group is looking for, is to develop an intensive COVID-19 response around the sector in Saskatchewan, including inter-ministerial collaboration, provide appropriate and adequate, consistent funding for emergency sheltering, along with building models for transitional housing, intensive case management and harm reduction.

Funding for personal protective equipment (PPE) was also a part of the ask, with the group looking for a provincial match to other agencies’ monetary commitments with the PPE.

“Since the pandemic started, the government of Canada has stepped up, community, of course, has stepped up, the municipal government has stepped up, Indigenous agencies and governments have stepped up and the private sector has stepped up. All of these partners have supplied funding and supplies,” Laurie O’Connor, executive director of the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre said.

“In Saskatchewan, the provincial government provided a one-time payment of $124,000 to be split amongst 10 shelters in March, some seven months ago, and at a time where positive cases were low and manageable.”

O’Connor said across the country, governments are stepping up to help, but Saskatchewan’s provincial government has not made a commitment since March.

A COVID-19 outbreak was recently announced at the Lighthouse in downtown Saskatoon. There has not been any indication as to how many cases have been identified within the facility, yet it has created a backlog when looking at the vulnerable sector.

According to the CEO of Saskatoon’s YWCA Cara Bahr, the demand for shelter services has increased.

In October 2019, the YWCA turned away 314 women and children. In 2020 that number so far is 477, with a big increase in walk-ins with some camping the night outside.

“Since the outbreak at the Lighthouse, we have faced an incredible amount of an increase in demand for space. We have had 171 calls for space from the time the outbreak at the Lighthouse was announced. When we look at that same period for last year, we had 105 calls,” Bahr said.

“Shelter is a basic human right. We need a strategy as the cold weather comes and as the pandemic continues to loom to address the needs of this vulnerable population.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, temporary shelter beds at the facility shrunk from 34 available spaces to 20. That was due to the health guidelines imposed by the province.

Another participant in Monday’s call was Dr. Morris Markentin. He works at the Saskatoon Community Clinic at the 20th Street Westside location.

“Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of clients living in Saskatoon’s inner-city test positive for COVID-19. The pandemic has highlighted the state of emergency that many of the clients that we serve have been living in even before COVID-19 became a reality,” he explained, adding that some have severe conditions including diabetes, COPD, chronic infection, or living with mental health and addictions issues.

“We need all hands on deck, the SHA (Saskatchewan Health Authority), community-based organizations and all levels of government and all of the ministries. This isn’t the time to stay in our silos, we need to get together and do what we do best in Saskatchewan— come together, and make it work.”

He explained that complexities within the self-isolation periods make it difficult for some clients when it comes to their work. They can’t take those two weeks off of work, and some are without access to social supports within the community.

On top of those complexities, even a simple trip to the grocery store is difficult for some.

“They can’t afford to buy groceries online and have them delivered. It’s difficult to deliver SkipTheDishes or groceries to someone who doesn’t have an address— we just want to state the obvious,” he said.

When looking at concerns around asymptomatic members of the sector, along with those who are homeless and awaiting results of COVID-19 testing, supports aren’t being offered to self-monitor in some circumstances, according to Lyn Brown, executive director of Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP).

“Shelters are expected to house folks with COVID-19, (and) hope for the best,” she said.

Staffing at the shelters across Saskatoon also came into question during Monday’s call.

“A lot of these agencies don’t have large staffing cohorts, and so if suddenly they lose 50 or 60 per cent of their staff to a 14-day isolation, running the services and supports that they normally run at the normal capacities that they run at, will become impossible,” warned Christopherson-Cote.