Mark Erickson was homeless for four months in 2025, before finding himself a place to live. Once he found himself an apartment, Erickson decided he wanted to help people in similar situations. (Mark Erickson/Submitted)

Regina man creates petition to help reduce homeless numbers

By Joshua Potter May 24, 2026 | 12:00 PM

Mark Erickson, known for being a part of Regina’s “garbage men” initiative, wants to use his experience with being homeless to help reduce the number of people living on the city’s streets.

Erickson’s journey began when he was taking care of his mother with dementia. He lost his home while trying to maintain his jobs and ended up living in his car.

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“(I was) showering at friends’ places, and (was brushing) my teeth in gas station bathrooms. (I was) living rough,” he said.

Erickson was homeless for four months from August to October 2025, before finding himself a place to live.

He said he felt lost during this period in his life.

“It felt utterly hopeless, (and) felt like no was going to give me a hand up. It felt like everyone was looking down on me, and I was worried someone was going to break into my car,” Erickson said.

Once he found himself an apartment, Erickson decided he wanted to help people in similar situations.

“I just decided one day I had enough and I wanted to make some noise, so I used every possible tool available to create a petition.”

The petition he created is called Hold the Line or Face the Ballot, which asks for a fully-funded homelessness reduction plan, affordable housing builds and transparency on how taxpayer money is being used.

Erickson said there needs to be better coordination between government officials and people in the community.

“I want them to know we’re watching. I want them to know we’re organizing, (and) to know we have a say, and we can formulate ideas (by) participating in government,” Erickson said.

“I’m tired of seeing people dying in our streets. It’s human empathy, and I think we as a society are numb to it because we see it so often and the fact that we can’t really effectively do anything about it.”

Before the petition was posted, Erickson said he had been talking with many including health-care workers, recovering addicts, and social workers, as well as Ward 8 city councillor Shanon Zachidniak.

In a text chain, Zachidniak wrote “I’m looking for the best contact who is working on tangible solutions that you could help with.”

“The more folks who are connected with a sense of urgency, the more likely a group can work together to plan an additional initiative,” she wrote.

Erickson said now the petition has been created, he is thinking of the future.

“The next step would be getting coordination from elected officials, get them all working together and agree to working in a collaborative workspace, like a group chat.”

When asked what piece of advice he would give to those who are currently homeless, Erickson expressed the need to keep going.

“Get loud, get vocal, be all you can be. Don’t give up (and) keep fighting, because one day you’ll get out of it, you just have to believe in yourself.”

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