Moose Jaw emergency shelter ceases operations, community groups voice concern over closure

Moose Jaw, Sask. -

People facing homelessness in Moose Jaw have one less option to seek temporary shelter after the abrupt closure of one of the city’s shelters.

Riverside Mission, which is operated by Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, ceased operations Friday after serving its last free meal to residents.

Employees from Souls Harbour were seen taking down the shelter’s signage Tuesday following the closure.

"That building is over 100 years old. There are constant maintenance issues,” said Joseph Miller, the executive director of Souls Harbour Rescue Mission during a July 8 public meeting.

“Simply put, we will demolish, sell all the vacant land we have within the city to recoup as much of our costs as possible and we will move to another city where we are more welcomed.”

"This was tremendously bad news for the community,” said Maxton Eckstein, the Coordinator of Special Projects for Square One Community Inc.

Square One Community, a community support group in Moose Jaw, said they will be putting together a social housing advisory committee in an attempt to help try and fill the gap.

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"So instead of having to call a large public contentious meeting to deal with issues around homelessness, we can now solve those issues at a committee level on a regular basis. On top of that, Square One itself is moving into supportive housing here in Moose Jaw and that in itself will also start to relieve pressure from the shelter system,” Eckstein said.

Riverside Mission was one of two shelters in Moose Jaw. The remaining shelter is Willow Lodge, which is operated by the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan.

The 15-bed shelter is at capacity, according to John Howard Society CEO Shawn Fraser.

"We're waiting to see what the impact is going to be on our vacancy. There is not a lot of room to give right now because there's quite a few homeless people in Moose Jaw,” he said.

In an emailed statement to CTV News, the City of Moose Jaw said they are saddened over the closure of the mission. They said their current location was no longer viable due to health and safety concerns.

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission declined an interview with CTV News.