'This is one of the solutions': Bruno’s Place taking shape as opening date nears

Yorkton, Sask. -

Despite delays, Yorkton’s new homeless shelter, Bruno’s place, is coming together. The shelter, which is housed in the old Yorkton Friendship Centre, hopes to open its doors in August.

The group behind the project, Prairie Harvest Christian Life Centre, was blown away by the support of the community thus far, amassing around $95,000 in private and business donations within the last two months.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone is excited. And I think everyone understands to that despite all the challenges that our society is facing right now, this is one of the solutions,” said Angela Chernoff, the shelter project coordinator at Bruno’s Place.

“When you partner with us, your partner with the solution.”

• Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device

The facility was created with the community in mind following a report from city council, stressing the need for a space where both men, and women who aren’t linked to family violence, can stay if need be.

It will house up to 15 members of the community, and hopes to offer three meals per day to those in need.

“There are no emergency shelters in Yorkton that are low barrier and open to any adults in need. We do have the domestic violence shelters in this area, but not every woman fits that … We will (also) have those community service workers, whether it's mental health, addictions, housing — we will invite them here at different hours throughout the week and just offer those to anyone that's willing and wanting to work on their own goals,” Chernoff explained.

The shelter is also selling prints of Bruno, one of Yorkton’s members of the vulnerable community back in the 1970’s to 1990’s. They were created by Russell Thomas, an Alberta artist. The graffiti prints were originally based on a photograph taken by Mitch Hippsley, before he became Mayor of Yorkton.

The prints cost $25 and can be purchased by cash or cheque at the shelter.

As for the facility’s new staff, 10 full time positions along with eight casual workers started their training on June 13, and instead of the frontlines, workers have pivoted to the renovations of the building, something they’re delighted to be a part of.

“It's awesome. Now especially, seeing the progress that we have like we've come a very long way so it's just very rewarding.” said emergency staff worker, Taneisha Roussin.

“I can't wait to see the end.”

Roussin was born and raised in Yorkton, and was recently accepted into university, with hopes of becoming a social worker.

She said she sees the need for this facility first hand, even if it may feel hard to see.

“We're such a small community and I think that homeless people that are in Yorkton, some people are couch surfing, but you see a lot of it and people walking around all day — it’s definitely more male than female — which I think this is going to be the perfect opportunity for the people to have a place to call home for a short time,” Roussin said.

“A lot of people don't actually have a place that they can call home. So for instance, some person might be homeless, but there's a lot of people (that can help them) because it's such a close knit community … It’s constantly just finding a place to have a roof over your head. So we don't really see it a lot on the streets as you would in a big city.”

So that's more of like the homelessness that we have here. Is just hopping from home to home, to try to find somewhere to sleep.”

As contractors now continue to work on the space, it won’t be long before the doors officially open to all of Yorkton’s community members. Donations are being asked from the community with three locations to drop items across Yorkton.

Drop off locations include:

• Bruno’s Place at 139 Dominion Avenue.
• SIGN at 345 Broadway Street.
• Prairie Harvest Church at 72 Melrose Avenue.

The group is looking for unopened hygiene products and unexpired canned and dry goods.