REGINA Regina’s newest warm-up centre, is looking for financial support from the provincial government as hundreds of people visit the shelter each day.
Awasiw opened its doors on Boxing Day. At first, it was only open at night, but it quickly transitioned to a 24 hour a day, seven day a week operation. It offers people, no matter what their condition, a place to warm up, use the washroom, receive a meal and socialize. Margaret Kisikaw Piyesis, partner of the centre, said the it needs more funding in order to continue helping people. “Today, we have the city’s support for funding, we have the federal support for funding and the province has said no. We’re still knocking at that door. We still need money for Awasiw,” Kisikaw Piyesis, who is also the CEO of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, said. “We still need to keep this work going in the community because we’re serving a population that’s underserved and not accessing care, treatment and support.�