Church in the Hood bus to keep Saskatoon residents warm this winter

Ralph Nicotine knows a little bit about what it feels like to be homeless.

When he was a teenager, he used to run away from home and sometimes ended up sleeping outside, using a toaster to keep himself warm.

Nicotine also fought addiction but recovered. He’s now a father, husband, local hip hop artist, and member of Church in the Hood Ministries, which began in 2014. According to its Facebook page, the church welcomes everyone from gang members to sex workers, those who are homeless, and everyone else.

About a month ago, Nicotine said Church in the Hood began giving out food on Saturday nights, and providing a place for people to warm up inside a school bus.

“Then me and my wife, something struck inside of us,” he said. “We wanted to do the bus. Instead of every Saturday, I told my wife, ‘Let’s do it Monday to Saturday.’ There’s people freezing outside. I already know about three deaths in the area.

“It just made me want to go out there and do whatever I could about it.”

Nicotine said he prayed about the decision, and shared it with the congregation.

“There was a gentleman who owns a bus company who heard what the vision was, and he donated the bus for $1 until spring,” said Nicotine.

Now, every evening except Sunday at around 9 p.m., Nicotine gets out a pail with some water and sanitizer, and cleans the inside of the 35-foot school bus parked in front of his home. He then sets it up with coffee, water, bannock, snacks, and hot soup on a built-in cabinet and ledge at the front of the bus.

“We try to be out usually by 11 p.m. Then 11:30 we’re at the church and usually there are already people waiting for us. They already know about it. So that’s good,” he said. “We park at City Centre Church for the most part and if we’re not there, we’re usually driving around looking for people if it’s a slow night.”

A lot of people have asked who Nicotine is, and why he’s doing what he’s doing.

“I just say, ‘Because we’re family. We’re just looking out for each other,’ ” he said with a smile.

Nicotine drives the bus himself, but soon hopes to bring on some volunteers.

“I’m slowly trying to build up a team so I can take a few days off and spend some time with my wife and kids,” he said.

The cost to run the bus is between $300 and $400 a night, but he said he’s been getting a lot of donations of food, drinks and clothing. The biggest cost is diesel for the bus.

Nicotine said he’s noticing more elderly people and those with walkers or wheelchairs coming to the bus at night, but they can’t climb the stairs to get into the bus.

Space heaters and propane tanks have so far been donated by local businesses, but he’s hoping someone will come through with an outside pop-up tent as well, for shelter.

Anyone who would like to donate to keep the warming bus running six nights a week can get more information on the Church in the Hood Facebook page.