‘We’re all human:’ Saskatoon homeless in need of warm winter clothing

As temperatures decline in Saskatoon, the people calling the streets home are looking for warmth, food and a helping hand.

The Saskatoon Sage Clan Patrol, a volunteer organization, is regularly patrolling the city’s streets and providing toques, mittens, socks, jackets and food to those without a place to call home.

Eleanore Sunchild, a volunteer with the group, said they try to provide support where they can, and spread positivity.

On Friday, the Sage Clan Patrol, along with the Redrum Motorcycle Club, passed out more than 150 sandwiches and warm clothing items. They would have passed out even more, but they quickly ran out of supplies.

The Saskatoon Sage Clan Patrol and Redrum Motorcycle Group hand out sandwiches and warm clothes to the city’s homeless. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

“Sadly, it’s lots of Indigenous people on the streets,” Sunchild said. “The shelters in Saskatoon seem to be full, so a lot of people don’t have (an) adequate warming space.”

The need for more warming shelters and beds was echoed by homeless individuals on Friday.

Annette said she has called the streets home her entire life, and said homelessness can affect people of all ages and from all walks of life.

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As freezing temperatures loom, Annette said she and others she knows have turned to apartment stairwells, garbage bins and outdoor vents for warmth.

She said she sometimes has no other option but to sleep on the sidewalk with just a piece of cardboard as shelter.

“A lot of people end up dying on cold nights,” she said.

Annette said she’s thankful for the volunteers who come out and provide warm clothing and supplies, adding that something as simple as a sandwich can mean a lot to a homeless person.

Saskatoon’s Sage Clan Patrol hands out warm clothes to the city’s homeless as winter approaches. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

“It might be the only meal that you’ve had in days,” she said, adding that sometimes she has gone weeks without changing her socks.

But what Annette said she really wants for herself and other people experiencing homelessness is more options for warming up at shelters.

“We’re all human and we all deserve to be warm and have a safe place to go,” she said.

Annette said she hopes people don’t judge those who are homeless, and said her message is to just be kind.

“We matter to someone, somewhere,” she said. “We’re just going through something right now.”

Donna Wichihan, who was huddled in the doorway of a building just off 20th Street on Friday, said this is her third year facing winter on the streets.

“It’s cold, but we’re survivors. All of us are survivors out here,” she said.

Wichihan echoed the message that there is a need for a new warming shelter with more beds for those who are struggling. She said it’s been hard to get a bed at the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s wellness centre in Fairhaven.

She expressed how grateful she was to receive a set of mittens and a blanket.

“The people that help me out are my angels,” she said.

Sunchild said there’s lots of demand for items like socks, mittens and jackets, which the organization accepts through donations.

Other organizations throughout the province, such as Angels 4 Warmth in Regina, also help out by providing warm clothing to community members in need.