REGINA A local contractor is offering free boosts to any vehicles that need it in Regina, while also raising money for the All Nations Hope Network. Corie Rempel, owner of Rempel Contracting, is asking people to donate what they can after receiving a boost. He plans to give all of what he raises to the All Nations Hope Network s new warm up shelter, Awasiw - The Place of Hope. “Trying to boost all these vehicles around the city, and just get them going so that they can go about their business,” Rempel said. “It’s super cold, and there is a lot of need out there in the community.”
Posted: Feb 01, 2021 11:51 AM CT | Last Updated: February 1
Jason Mercredi poses in the Prairie Harm Reduction safe consumption area, which opened last fall. Due to COVID restrictions, the organization can only allow nine people inside at a time, despite the recent cold.(Chelsea Laskowski/CBC)
When Saskatoon weather hit lows of –34 C last week, Jason Mercredi says, people were begging staff at Prairie Harm Reduction to let them in to warm up. They ve been negotiating with other participants saying, hey, can you come outside for five minutes and let me warm up? said Mercredi, executive director of the organization. We ve definitely had people crying, begging, yelling. You know, it s not right that we can t let them in at that point, but we also don t want to break COVID protocols.
(Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)
When the extreme cold hits, a place in North Central will provide warm drinks, warm clothes and most importantly, a roof for people caught without a home.
All Nations Hope Network and YWCA Regina have partnered to open a warming station on 5th Avenue near Elphinstone Street.
“People are at risk out in the cold. We need to answer the call and provide for them,” said Margaret Kîsikâw Piyêsîs, Finance and Research Director for All Nations Hope Network in a news release.
The shelter opened on Boxing Day, operating from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., staffed by All Nations Hope Network. YWCA provides diversion services to those who can use them.