LIGHTHOUSE FUNDING
Shelter to reject more people
Saskatoon homeless shelter The Lighthouse planned to start turning away people who aren’t paid for by the province Wednesday night in the face of underfunding, executive director Don Windels said.
“We probably should have turned all these people away way back when. I honestly didn’t want to do it because it hurts our staff, it hurts all of us to be doing this. It’s a really hard decision to make and I’m not happy about it.”
The decision came after the provincial government announced in a note to the media that a funding review had found The Lighthouse does not serve enough eligible clients to cover the cost of its stabilization unit.
The Lighthouse receives no core provincial funding and a per diem reimbursement only for clients approved by the Social Services Ministry. It had previously cancelled its daytime program after the ministry gave notice it would apply stricter qualifications in deciding who is eligible for funding.
The 38-bed stabilization unit, expanded from its original 20 beds, was created to house intoxicated people who have nowhere else to stay, keeping them out of jail cells and emergency departments.
It receives about $119,000 per year from the Saskatoon Health Region for two staff positions but operates at a loss, Windels said. The Lighthouse had asked the province for hundreds of thousands of dollars to make up the difference, and had been waiting for an answer since June, he said.
“If you think about it, it’s not just 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. That’s easy to fund. Stabilization is — at least it was — 24 hour, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So just the staffing alone adds up to a huge amount.”
The province’s refusal could mean a lot of open beds just when the weather is starting turn cold, he said.
“Intoxicated people and cold don’t mix well. There could be people that die. That’s the harsh reality.”
Windels took issue with the media note saying only five people had been able to make the transition to stable housing.
“I honestly don’t know where they got that from. We do have a housing locator — he housed over 60 people last year. Obviously they’re not all from the stabilization shelter, but they’re from the shelter system.”
He also questioned the funding review cited by the province. The only report he knows of showed that Lighthouse programs saved $21 for every $10 spent, he said.
Brandon Heistad, 22, who spoke to The StarPhoenix outside the building hoping to get in, said The Lighthouse was now denying people food and water unless they were staying there.
He hasn’t used the stabilization unit personally, but questioned why people would be denied a place to stay with winter coming.
“What’s the difference between giving me that money that I would give to a landlord (and giving it) to a place like this? They use it for people that need it.”
Saskatoon police Chief Clive Weighill, who spoke to reporters before he had received all details about the province’s decision, said since the stabilization unit was expanded to 38 beds last year, police had 20 to 25 per cent fewer people in detention.
“It’s only a few years ago that we had three deaths in cells within about a year and a half period. And a lot of this was attributable to people who were being arrested. We don’t know what they’ve ingested, they come into detention and they go to sleep and they don’t wake up.”
The province did not provide a spokesperson who could comment on the stabilization unit and did not provide the funding review.
The Saskatoon Health Region did not make anyone available for an interview.