Friendship Inn navigating COVID outbreak, maintains food security for vulnerable sector

As the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre grapples with its second COVID-19 outbreak, another Saskatoon food bank is dealing with an outbreak of its own.

Executive director Sandra Kary of the Friendship Inn said Monday the facility was notified of its outbreak last Wednesday.

Three staff members currently are dealing with a positive case of COVID-19, according to Kary. She did add there isn’t worry at this time that the two outbreaks are linked in any way.

“I don’t believe there’s any overlap, to my knowledge,” she said.

On Sunday, the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre said it would be temporarily pausing its emergency food hamper program as it deals with three COVID cases.

That wasn’t the case for the Friendship Inn, though.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we went into a response where we did a deep clean on (Thursday and Friday). During that time, we were able to maintain our takeaway meal service. So we didn’t have an interruption with offering food security for the community,” said Kary.

She mentioned the facility did amend its takeaway options to ensure safety of all clients.

When it comes to Saskatoon’s vulnerable sector, though, Kary said since the beginning of the pandemic there have been worries of COVID spreading through clients.

“I think there has always been that concern and that risk, and that’s why we maintain pretty vigilant protocols within our building, and we’ll continue to do so,” she said. “We make sure any folks that are dining in, we keep them socially distanced.”

The worry extended to those at Saskatoon City Hall as well, in the early-pandemic days.

At the beginning of April, Mayor Charlie Clark reached out to the provincial government in an open letter to Premier Scott Moe with concerns around the sector and COVID-19.

“Right now, there is not a clear testing mechanism, and there’s no clear processes for how to ensure they can be provided with a safe place to shelter, and the right services in place to keep them off the streets or from overwhelming the health system,” he said in a Zoom media conference April 1, 2020.

Outbreaks within Saskatoon’s vulnerable sector have included group homes, shelters such as the Lighthouse Supported Living and services such as Prairie Harm Reduction, the aforementioned Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre and Str8Up.