RDBID looking for new home for Regina Street Team

After a presentation from the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID), it’s unclear where a team that helps some of the most vulnerable in the city will end up.

The Regina Street Team currently operates under RDBID. It helps people in the downtown, Heritage and Cathedral neighbourhoods who are in need – the help ranging from finding food, water and shelter, to first-aid, to connecting them with services.

But, RDBID said the size of the team and its scope of services have gone beyond RDBID’s mandate.

According to the presentation by Judith Veresuk, RDBID’s executive director, to the city’s executive committee on Wednesday, the team was the community support program in 2021.

She said it was originally funded by the City of Regina and the Regina Police Service, and was intended to address concerns from business owners about community members in need after the pandemic. The team members performed wellness checks and helped with de-escalation where needed.

Last year, Veresuk said the team started getting funding from other spaces like SaskHousing, and from grants designed to help with homelessness and addictions, and it was re-named the Regina Street Team.

With the new funding came a wider scope and expectation of services. Veresuk told Executive Committee the team now provides services beyond the downtown, including case management, clinical support, and transportation to service providers.

“The work that the street team does is needed now more than ever; their philosophy of meeting people where they are at is critical to building relationships and trust with our community members,” explained Veresuk.

She said RDBID is proud to have built and incubated the team, but it’s now gone past RDBID.

“The scope of work that the team undertakes and the future vision of this program is now beyond the mandate of Regina Downtown Business Improvement District,” said Veresuk.

She said RDBID wants the team to continue its work, just under a more “adequately resourced entity.”

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The work of the team is expected to continue while these questions are answered, and Veresuk said RDBID is committed to making sure there’s a smooth transition. She said they hope to activate the transition before the end of the year.

In the report from city administration, the options laid out include the team being brought under the City of Regina itself, or under a third party.

When asked what benefits there might be to a third party, Veresuk said they tend to be more nimble and responsive than the city, so a third party could react to crises that come up, which need quick attention. She also said that some on the team may not be “traditional” city employees.

“Being able to hire folks with live experience is key to the success of this program, and I think that might be a little bit more flexible within a third-party organization,” said Veresuk.

The issue will be discussed again, as part of the report “City of Regina’s Role in Well-being & Homelessness” at the City Council meeting next week.

Mayor Chad Bachynski said they’re working through the issue and there are no plans to shut the team down.

“It’s all part of the same conversation about trying to get the right pieces in place to most effectively enact our encampment response,” said Bachynski.

Acting Regina Police Chief Lorilee Davies praised the work of the team.

“In my opinion, they are doing valuable work in the community, especially with vulnerable folks,” she said.

Davies said it’s not as much of a concern what entity the team ends up working under, as long as the work keeps going.

“It’s more about the on-the-ground work that they’re doing day in and day out, and hopefully that can continue,” said Davies.