'It was eye-opening': Community reflects on homelessness crisis 1 year after Camp Hope dissolved
Over 100 people called Camp Hope in Regina’s Core Community Park, ‘Home’ for more than a month in fall of 2021.
Alysia Johnson of Rally Around Homelessness reflected on the year since the tent city was taken down.
“It was eye-opening for the community,” she said. “The community is more organized and passionate today and we really are willing to stick our necks out and come to the table.”
At a hot stove session at the Regina Public Library Thursday afternoon, community members and advocates joined together to mark the one-year anniversary. Stories from the days of the camp, as well as questions about ongoing progress were shared.
“In my mind, I prepared for seven or eight people,” said Johnson. “To see a room full people, with great questions, comments, and a high-level of engagement was really inspiring to me.”
Marc Spooner moderated the event. He said it’s important to look back on the events of a year ago so we can move forward.
“As a community, we allowed the need for a camp where homeless people had nowhere else to go but a park in a tent,” said Spooner. “That’s a real failure.”
Spooner wanted to be a part of the solution, no matter the cost.
“[The camp] was a real wake-up call to the community,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me what part of my taxes are paying for it, I want to get together and do what is right.”
On Wednesday, the City of Regina announced new federal funding for rapid housing initiatives. Pending approval for their proposal, new units could be available in late 2024.
“In the last year, there were 333 affordable housing units added. That’s a huge improvement,” said Mayor Sandra Masters. “We’re making progress on affordable housing and clearly, work needs to continue.”
However, given all the work by advocates this past year, Johnson said there is still a long way to go.
“I knew the day the camp shut down, the work was just starting,” she said. “Today, I’m just thinking about how we as a community learn, not forget and how do we keep the conversations going that are important and worth having in order to save lives.”
Up next in her efforts, is the public city budget discussions. Johnson said she will be in attendance with numerous other advocates to pitch their solution to end the growing crisis.
“We need to rationalize why solving homelessness in our community is the right thing to do,” she said. “We have all the heart and the hard workers here that are ready to step up.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.