REGINA - Recent numbers from research done by the Namerind Housing Corporation suggested the amount of homeless people in Regina is currently at 824, which is an overall 255 per cent increase from 2015.
However, members of the Regina Street Team are suggesting the number of people homeless in the city could far exceed that number.
Rob Kraushaar, clinical program manager for the Regina Street team, talked about why the count done by the Namerind Housing Corporation does not account for everyone who is homeless in the city.
"If they're going off the point-in-time (PIT) count , it's also important to understand what a point-in-time count is, [which] it's just in a three-hour window of the time like when the counting is done. It doesn't necessarily count and factor in all of the hidden homeless [people]," said Kraushaar.
While the Regina Street Team does not have a specific number in terms of the amount of homeless people, Jason Knudsen, outreach program manager for the Regina Street Team, believes it’s around the same amount as the biggest city in Saskatchewan.
"I'm sure [the number of homeless people] is right on par with Saskatoon, maybe a little higher, maybe a little lower, but if Saskatoon's counting 1,500. I'm sure Regina's in the same boat."
According to a 2024 PIT count, Saskatoon counted 1,499 people dealing with homelessness, which was up from 550 people counted in 2022.
Even though Regina is considered one of the more affordable cities to live in Canada, people facing different scenarios can not even make ends meet or live paycheck-to-paycheck.
Knudsen alluded to the rising cost of grocery prices from stores that claim inflation is the driving force behind it, even though he mentioned how these types of retailers keep making record profits.
When asked if he felt disheartened by these rising costs, Knudsen responded with "yes." He added, "I would say it's beyond disheartening. I don't know, [maybe even] toxic, it's really unfortunate. We're being taken advantage of, and unfortunately, there's nothing in place to really protect us from that."
Because of this fact, the pair believe there are many people who end up homeless because of factors like a living wage and also family situations, mental health and more.
Kraushaar and Knudsen understand better than most people about going through challenging times in life, unsure of what will happen next.
Kraushaar had dealt with drinking and drug addictions for a long period of his life, which led him down a bumpy road, ending up living on the street. Meanwhile, Knudsen ended up in a car accident that gave him PTSD, which made him realize all the support systems he thought would help him were in reality not there for him. Knudsen eventually ended up bankrupt and close to becoming homeless.
That’s why the pair push belief rather than spend money trying to figure out the number of people that are homeless in Regina. It is better spent trying to find solutions. "We need solutions, and the obvious solution, the thing we're lacking right now is, there's just not enough housing, and there certainly is not enough support of housing," said Knudsen.
Even when someone is provided housing, Knudsen said providing housing to someone is not going to fix a person’s issues. Rather, it’s a first step to a long road of recovery.
When talking about why he joined the Regina Street Team, Kraushaar highlighted the importance of understanding "what they [homeless people] need [in terms of getting them off the street and back down the right path] instead of us just assuming what we think they need because that's where the problem [lies]."
He gave an example of how "everybody assumes well this person needs counselling. Well, there's a lot more they need before they can do that. They need to have a relationship with the counsellor and learn to trust because they've gone through the system and done so many things so many times and been let down."
As Knudsen pointed out, "the only way that people are gonna pull themselves out of that is by coming together and having [the] community pitch in. There are a whole lot of organizations working hard and a whole lot of volunteers working hard, but without shelter space [and] without housing available, it will continue to trend the wrong way.
In terms of what the Regina Street Team hopes to see, Knudsen said, "I would love to see them [housing spaces] get all sorts of funding. We know first-hand and through experience that the cost of not sheltering somebody is significantly more than the cost of sheltering somebody."
He noted how, with the right housing and support system in place, "people can avoid being arrested or ending up in the emergency room numerous times a week, which Knudsen called the "biggest drain of the system right now."
Knudsen believes "if we could spend a little bit more money, a few million dollars to build a tiny home community in Regina, [it] would have a huge impact [and spending] another couple million dollars to have some second-stage housing with supports in place would drastically reduce the load on [the] police, fire [services], EMS [and] the hospitals."
