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A talking circle had just wrapped up in Core Community Park as volunteers served food and people moved between dozens of tents.
For Mandla Mthembu, the activity shows what community members can accomplish but also what governments have failed to provide.
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“We need affordable, adequate, accessible housing, and we don’t need it 10 years from now,” Mthembu said. “We don’t need it 20 years from now. We need it right now.”
Mandla and his brother, Tiro Mthembu, are among the volunteers supporting people living in the park. They help prepare meals, organize educational events and connect people with other community resources.
The brothers said they became involved because the housing crisis is increasingly visible across Regina and affects more than the people currently sleeping outside.
“We want to see our community flourish. We want to see our neighbours do well,” Tiro said.
“There’s a collective obligation and responsibility at play.”
Sunday Fun Day YQR organizer Shawn Koch stands near the colourful basketball court in Core Community Park. Koch has spent all but one night in the park since volunteers established a round-the-clock support table in July. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
At the centre of the volunteer effort is a support table established by Sunday Fun Day YQR on July 12.
Organizer Shawn Koch has spent all but one night in the park since the table was created. Volunteers have kept it operating around the clock, offering meals, cold water, coffee, clothing and a place for people to find support.
Koch estimated about 150 people were living in approximately 70 tents when he spoke with 980 CJME, with dozens more passing through the park each day.
He said the encampment is not free from problems, but argued that keeping people in one place has allowed them to sleep and begin considering their next steps.
“Do you know how hard it is to get through a day without some sleep?” Koch said.
“Anybody listening, please ask yourself how you feel after a restless night. Now put two nights in a row.”
Koch said a person who has spent several nights outside may appear disoriented or intoxicated even when exhaustion is the primary cause.
Neighbours have concerns
The interviews follow concerns raised by Downtown Automatic Transmission, a repair shop near the park.
Service manager Jarrid Linder previously told 980 CJME that break-ins, theft and property damage have cost the business thousands of dollars and left some customers reluctant to leave their vehicles overnight.
Three trucks were stolen during a recent break-in at the 11th Avenue shop. Police have not publicly connected the suspects or the thefts to anyone living in the encampment.
Linder also said the business has replaced 17 broken windows on customer vehicles since the camp grew.
Koch said those concerns should not be dismissed.
“To the businesses and the people around the park who have been threatened or are not feeling safe, or don’t like seeing the garbage or what’s happening, I feel you,” he said. “I really do. I don’t like seeing that stuff either.”
The stability of the park, he said, can create an opportunity for someone to call family, replace identification, seek treatment or begin applying for housing and employment.
“The city has been allowing us the space to help people find out where their journey and where their next steps are at, because they haven’t been rolling people out,” Koch said.
“When they sleep, they can get up the next day and feel a little bit better and maybe make a better decision that day.”
More supports needed
The framework uses a risk matrix to guide the city’s response. A multi-sector committee meets weekly to co-ordinate outreach and identify gaps in available services.
Koch credited the city, its encampment response team and the Regina Fire Department for working with people in the park.
“They’ve been coming here and doing those one-on-ones,” he said. “The city has been great.”
However, Koch said allowing an encampment to remain is not a housing replacement.
Volunteers began by asking for four basic supports: bathrooms, showers, storage and power.
Portable bathrooms arrived after the group had spent 18 days in the park. Koch said showers and secure storage are still needed, particularly as colder weather approaches.
He said access to electricity is also important because applications for employment, housing and government assistance increasingly require phones, email accounts or online forms.
“People here want to work. People want to do things meaningful,” Koch said.
“But if you don’t have a place to sleep, if you don’t have a place to go to the bathroom, if you don’t have a place to keep your stuff, if you don’t have a place to plug in your devices, how are you supposed to do that?”
Koch said volunteers are preparing for the possibility that some people will remain outside through the winter. He said the group wants to acquire solar panels and batteries to provide power while continuing to push for permanent housing.
Mandla welcomed the change from repeatedly removing tents and belongings, but said the policy will only manage homelessness unless housing is available.
“If we don’t have the housing and the infrastructure to put folks into better situations, we are just going to see a cycle,” he said.
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