Submitted by Will Arscott

 

 

The meeting was held in the Main Dining Room at the Saskatoon Club. President Jack was the emcee for the event. Wayne Palmer was cashier. Mark Gryba handled technology. The saskatoon Club had offered us the special Christmas buffet at our regular price, so the Club got a treat. Well, most did for some of the members who are regular attendees it was their third or fourth time visiting the buffet which did not seem to change from one time to the next. The food was very good.

 

The meeting began with members singing O Canada.  Elaine Zakreski gave the blessing with a message that Christmas is about Hope and Peace and that we should carry these messages in our Rotary lives as well as our personal lives.

 

 

We are always joined by several spouses or partners at our Christmas luncheon. I will not attempt to list the family members present as someone will inevitably be missed.  We had three special guests from the Salvation Army: David Clare is the Residential Services Manager (Shelters), Ronna Millar is the Program Coordinator for Bethany Homes and Roger Yenkins is the Director of Housing Services.  Roger was our presenter and was introduced later in the program.

 

 

The passing of Arie Van Duvendyk was reported. Arie was a long-term member of our club and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.  Arie came here from Holland and built Dutch Growers as a thriving family business.  His daughter Adriana has also been a member of our club. Our condolences to the Van Duvendyk family.

 

 

There were printed chits on the tables for members to direct donations to the Salvation Army.  Members were to write in the amount they wished to contribute, and Wayne Palmer will add the amount to your regular chit. The donation will be made through the Saskatoon Rotary charitable trust. Wayne will do a billing prior to the end of the year and if you pay it before the end of the year, he can issue a tax receipt for 2024. This would be a good time to support the Salvation Army as the postal strike has really interfered with their regular Christmas fundraising.

 

The club received a very nice thank-you letter, which was read to the members, from Lindsay Stoddard recognizing our work with RAP. 

 

Donna Gauthier reported that we were sold out of Co-op grocery cards, but that Sobey cards were still available. As usual several members have purchased blocks of grocery cards for employees at Christmas. We thank those members.

 

We also received a thank you note on behalf of the Riversdale Community Collective sent by Karen Farmer. She thanked us for our participation on the ‘Space on H’ project and the event we helped host in the fall. The Board is exploring another project in support of this group next year.

 

 

 

Led by President Jack, we officially welcomed three new members into our club. Fred Solomon, Claire Mugabe and Kelechi Agubata were presented with their official pins and certificates. They have taken their places as full members of our club. Welcome!  Kelechi joined us by Zoom which was a first. A picture was taken of President Jack with Fred and Claire standing beside the screen showing Kelechi. It will be interesting to see how the picture turns out.

 

 

Roger was introduced by Gary Rusu.  Roger was born in Argentina and moved to Canada with his family in 2016.  His life experiences have shaped his commitment to community service.  His wife is a Canadian from Manitoba whom he met in Guatemala. Roger studied economics and theology.  Eventually Roger and his wife came to Saskatoon to work for the Salvation Army.   His family now includes three children.

 

Roger’s background includes managing affordable housing initiative as well as improving lives and prospects through the development of soft skills. He currently oversees the Salvation Army’s shelter and housing programs. This includes providing emergency shelter, a winter warming center, transitional living programs, justice programs and more.  He is dedicated to creating innovative7788 solutions to address the challenges our community faces.

 

Roger began with a short history of the Salvation Army. The Army was originally created in London in 1865. Its history in Canada dates from 1882. The movement is based in Methodism and holds that faith without good works is dead. From its inception the Army has worked in the community to provide for basic needs. The program has been referred to as soup salvation.

 

Currently in Canada the Salvation Army is the largest non-governmental social provider. It is a faith-based not-for-profit agency that provided for three million Canadians in 2023. The Army has 9,000 employees in Canada and is active in 130 countries.

 

The Salvation Army has been active in Saskatchewan since 1886. They celebrated their 100^th anniversary at their location Ave C and 19^th Street.

 

Roger went on to briefly describe the myriad of services the Army provides in Saskatoon. The extent of their activities is mind-boggling, and it is only possible to give the briefest description of each one. There are three divisions of services. The first and best known is the Crossroads program that is the umbrella for their housing initiatives. Second, there are general family services which supports low-income families. Programs in this area include things like the drive for winter coats and the Christmas present program. Finally there is the Beaver Camp program which is used in some innovative ways to serve the full range of clients the Army supports.

 

Perhaps the best-known program of the Salvation Army is the men’s emergency shelter on Avenue C. The shelter has 75 beds that can be expanded to 90 on an emergency basis. The shelter provides beds and food, but they also have counsellors and social service people on site.  These services are provided 24/7 as the clientele does not conform to anything like regular work hours. In the last couple years, the shelter has been consistently full. Security is provided on site and men must meet with a worker within 48 hours of arriving. 

 

The shelter is a part of a housing collective involving other groups and other locations. The overall problem is growing. Three years ago, it was estimated there were 450 homeless people in Saskatoon. Now, that estimate has grown to greater than 1,400.

 

The Army provides hotel accommodations for women and for women with children. These services include providing for women and children trying to leave an abusive situation.

 

A newer program is the winter warming center housed in St. Mary’s Church. During the winter months this facility averages 135 drop-ins per night with highs of up to 240 when the weather is extreme. This center requires highly trained staff as the clients are very high need and can be unpredictable in their behavior. In past years this facility has been co-ed but this year they have moved to separate shelters for men and women. This change greatly reduces certain types of problems.

 

The Army offers a continuum of services and not just emergency services. There are transitional living options for people to leave the emergency shelter and still have some support and supervision. These facilities are on Ave T and U. Originally the Army obtained a 15-unit apartment building to meet the space requirements created by the covid pandemic. Now these units house the Pathways Transition program. The clients are housed and given the opportunity to learn life skills. Many clients require work in the area of anger management. This program in an investment in people and the program requires time to work. When clients are with others that are coming out of a difficult time in their lives, they can share hope and this is very beneficial. It can be said the biggest problem of the homeless is loneliness. The transition program is designed to help the clients reconnect.

 

Another housing program the Army operates is on Ave. U and provides for men coming out of prison. To be eligible for the program they must have served two-thirds of their sentence.   Having a separate space for these people is important as many of them are in danger of relapse if they are around drug use. Often, they have conditions of release requiring that they not associate with known criminals. This requirement is impossible to meet in the context of the emergency shelter.

 

The final housing program is the one that our club is most familiar with and that is the Bethany Home for young women.   The shelter offers a 30-day (or sometimes longer) program for girls at twelve to eighteen.   The program strongly encourages school attendance.   Our club has supported this program, and we have had presentations on the program in past meetings.

                    

There is a new program being developed to aid women. It will seek to address modern slavery and sex trafficking. 

 

The Salvation Army has a need for volunteers particularly in its family services programs.   There is work to be done sorting clothes and packing hampers. There was considerable interest in our club becoming involved in this area particularly now when the Friendship Inn has sufficient staffing through the fine-option program. Please stay tuned for further announcements.  

 

The size and scope of the Salvation Army’s programs are immense. This short summary does not begin to cover all the good work that is being done.

 

After Roger’s presentation Ronna Millar was called forward. Ronna is the Program Coordinator for Bethany Homes. President Jack presented our annual cheque to Bethany Homes. I am sure all our members believe we are supporting a good cause. 

 

 MERRY CHIRSTMAS AND THE HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS!!

 

Adjournment