VIDEO: Regina’s Carmichael Outreach worker urges support as encampment grows

For people sleeping in Regina’s growing encampments, knowing they need help and being able to reach it can be two very different things.

Carmichael Outreach frontline service worker Travis Lumberjack said many people arrive at the organization aware of the problems they face but overwhelmed by the process of finding housing, treatment or financial support.

“A lot of people that do come here, they know what they need, but they don’t know where to go and they don’t know where to start,” Lumberjack said.

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“I try as much as possible to push those individuals in the right direction, or at least provide them with options so they can access certain services that they do require to find stability within their lives.”

His comments come as tents continue to fill Core Community Park on 11th Avenue, putting Regina’s new person-centred approach to homeless encampments under pressure.

They also follow concerns raised by Downtown Automatic Transmission, a repair shop near the park that was recently broken into.

Three customer trucks were stolen from the Montreal Street business during the early-morning break-in on Aug. 29. The Regina Police Service said surveillance video showed a man wearing a white Halloween mask forcing his way inside, stealing three sets of keys and taking the first truck.

Two other suspects arrived several hours later and drove away with a second truck before the first suspect returned and took the third, police said.

Police have not connected the suspects in the truck thefts to the nearby encampment.

Service manager Jarrid Linder said the break-in cost the business thousands of dollars in completed and scheduled work. He also said the shop had replaced 17 smashed windows on customer vehicles since the encampment began growing nearby.

Downtown Automatic Transmission service manager Jarrid Linder stands outside the Regina repair shop. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)

Lumberjack acknowledged that theft, shoplifting and property crime have a real effect on businesses and others in the area.

“Some of these actions that people have to resort to do impact real businesses, communities and other areas that we do see,” he said.

But Lumberjack said focusing only on the crime risks overlooking the conditions that can push someone toward a desperate decision.

“They’re often symptoms of a deeper systemic issue rather than, you know, the root cause,” he said.

Lumberjack said there is no single explanation for the homelessness, public drug use and property crime visible around Regina’s encampments.

“I think it’s a combination of what you just mentioned,” he said. “It’s mental health, it’s addictions, it’s financial hardship.”

Demand for Carmichael’s services has continued to grow as more encampments appear around central Regina, Lumberjack said.

The organization provides a weekday meal service along with showers, laundry, clothing, food hampers and a program for parents with babies.

“We do see a lot of individuals accessing the service, and the service obviously is growing with the amount of encampments popping up around the area of Carmichael Outreach,” he said.

However, the existence of a program does not always mean someone can reach it.

Lumberjack said transportation problems, financial barriers and limited access outside regular business hours can prevent people from getting help when they need it.

“After-hours services has become a bit of an issue, as a lot of people don’t have access to, whether it be transportation, limited access after business hours or financial barriers,” he said.

Lumberjack called for more practical assistance, including affordable and supportive housing, addiction treatment, mental-health care, counselling and accessible transportation.

He said agencies must also help people navigate the network of programs already available.

“More practical supports for those requiring those services,” he said. “Whether it be housing, those suffering from financial hardship and educational services.”

Carmichael works with limited resources, Lumberjack said, but staff can still help people identify options and take the first step toward accessing another service.

He encouraged anyone unsure where to begin to contact Carmichael Outreach or the nearby Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services Friendship Centre.

“We do offer quite a lot within our organizations with the limited resources we have,” he said. “But I think people are either just a little nervous on how to ask, or don’t know how to ask.”

Lumberjack also addressed concerns raised by some people living in encampments who say they do not feel safe in shelters.

He acknowledged that safety can be a concern in some circumstances, but cautioned against assuming everyone who enters an outreach organization or shelter is dealing with addiction, mental illness or violence.

“Everybody goes through challenges that definitely affect their well-being,” he said.

Lumberjack said someone may be dealing with trauma, housing instability, a lack of transportation or simply a crisis that has pushed them beyond what they can manage alone.

“Sometimes that’s all it is, is one person having a bad day, and it pushes them over their edge,” he said.

The growing camp is one of the first major tests of Regina’s new approach to encampments.

City council adopted the person-centred framework in November 2025. Instead of automatically dismantling a camp, the policy emphasizes approaching each person individually and connecting them with housing, shelter, addiction treatment and other services.

The city uses a risk assessment to guide its response. Bylaws can still be enforced when an encampment is considered unsafe or high-risk.

Regina Police Service Chief Lorilee Davies has said a multi-agency committee is meeting weekly to co-ordinate the response and identify gaps in available services. The city’s goal is to help everyone leave the Core Community Park encampment before winter.

Lumberjack said lasting change will require involvement from the city, the Saskatchewan government and other levels of government.

He said businesses’ concerns about theft and property damage must be taken seriously, but so must the circumstances of the people living inside the tents.

“The people who are seeking these services are somebody’s mother, somebody’s brother, somebody’s father, somebody’s somebody,” Lumberjack said.

“I think we just need to look out for each other a little more and give each other a helping hand if somebody needs it.”