The new Souls Harbour building is well under construction and is set to open December of this year.
The new location, which replaces the old one on Hamilton Street, is a four story building which offers a much bigger space and additional services for its clients and volunteers. The new building features a kitchen three times the size of the existing one, a men's emergency shelter which can accommodate up to 24 people, a new subsidized daycare area and a drive through donation garage.
Odile Longpre is a dedicated volunteer at the organization and though she says she is happy to spend her free time volunteering at Souls Harbor, she is looking forward to working in a bigger and better area.
"Knowing that we are going to be able to help more people, feed more people, cloth more people and give people what they need to sort of survive, I mean who wouldn't be excited,” said Longpre.
A unique and special feature of the $8.1 million building is that it's a passive built construction which means that it does not use conventional heating systems, instead, insulated thick walls and air exchange units are used to control the temperature. This project is the first of its kind in Canada for a non-profit building.
"I hope it will provide a continuum of care. It has the ability to help someone with nothing, literally. We say hope begins with a meal. We can feed someone, we can shelter them," said Joe Miller, Regina Souls Harbour executive director.
Authorities say the building will be fully operational by this December.
