Emergency Wellness Centre lease extended another year – Saskatoon

Saskatoon Tribal CouncilThe (STC)’s Urgent Care Center will be open for a while longer when the city council votes to extend the lease for the center by 12 months.

The vote was unanimously agreed across the board at a snap session on Wednesday afternoon.

The wellness center on 1 Avenue N in downtown Saskatoon has 75 beds for the homeless. Since opening last December, it has always been full. Tribe Chief Mark Arcand previously told Global News that these services are essential to combat homelessness and drug use throughout the city.

However, downtown residents and business owners have raised concerns about the shelter’s location. Some said that people around the center openly used drugs that made them feel unsafe. To offset worries, the wellness center added more volunteer peacekeepers to patrol the building – the shelter’s own residents.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark stressed his support for the shelter saying the extension was temporary, but much needed.

“The wellness center has been full and overcrowded since it started operating. So to close it, I think it’s going to be a much bigger challenge downtown than what we’ve got. ”

Clark added that STC is in serious negotiations with a building’s landlord for a more permanent site, and the move is expected to happen within a year, or even earlier than expected.

The mayor also said the community needs to work together to help the city move this project to help reduce homelessness and drug challenges.

The Arcand tribe leader previously told Global News that he hopes the new site is bigger so they can offer more services like mental health and social services so they can help more people in need. . The new location of the wellness center is yet to be determined.