Business grows as weather chills

Business grows as weather chills

Memory McLeod
The Leader-Post


Friday, December 01, 2006


Local shelters are experiencing an influx of people seeking refuge from unseasonably cold weather.

However, shelter operators say other factors also play a part in determining how many people come in from the cold.

"Sometimes it varies, depending on the time of the month. Near the end of the month, when cheques come in, the place gets kind of scarce for a day or two," George McKenzie, shelter caretaker at the Regina Rescue Mission, said Thursday.

Despite the end-of-the month cheques, this week's cold snap has filled up more than half of the emergency shelter beds at the mission, McKenzie said, adding that the Mission is coping with the increase.

Grocery store donations and food brought in by private donors keep the Mission well-stocked with food the year-round. "The requirement is being met. Hunters donate wild meat, and there is always a lot of food there," McKenzie said.

If residents are not on the waiting list for the Mission's long-term treatment program, they may stay for only up to seven days each month.

"If we keep seeing the same faces again and again, we sit down and try to help them with the root of the problem, whether that be an addiction or whatever," McKenzie said.

It isn't often that the Mission has to turn someone away, and the rules are not written in stone, McKenzie said, adding that, in winter, there are not as many transients (such as hitchhikers) going through the city, so the Mission usually houses locals, who are familiar with the rules.

"The zero tolerance toward intoxication -- we have to be strict on that one even in the cold, because, what if someone lights up a cigarette and then falls asleep? It's a safety issue for us. So unfortunately we cannot accept anyone who is intoxicated, no matter what the temperature," McKenzie said.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2006