Community support organizations in Saskatoon say they are concerned about the uptick in demand for their services following the closure of the city’s only supervised consumption site.
On Thursday, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) announced it will cease all operations after discovering a financial shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The non-profit organization previously shut down its supervised consumption services in March. Now, its family support services and youth houses have shuttered, leaving other social service organizations in Saskatoon bracing for impact.
“There are a lot more people on the streets, and there are more people coming to the office,” said Shirley Isbister, president of the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI).
Isbister says encampments have begun popping up outside her office and she is concerned about where people will turn when they need help.
“The people who were using the safe injection site, where are they going to go now? And who’s going to test the drugs?” she said.
It’s not only Isbister who is noticing the spike in demand during the short period when PHR reduced its offerings.
PHR previously received provincial funding for its social services, but not its safe consumption site, which Saskatchewan’s health and addictions minister said will be re-allocated to other organizations in Saskatoon.
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“We don’t know exactly who that is, but we’re working with the existing organizations to see what they can do to take on some of that work,” said Lori Carr in an interview with Global News on Friday.
But additional responsibilities may not be possible for organizations like EGADZ and CUMFI, which say they are already operating at capacity.
“We’re overrun with what we do in the community, so I know we’d never be able to do it,” said Isbister.
Meikle says taking on more responsibilities would mean staff would be overworked, potentially leading to burnout or to them not being able to provide services to the best of their abilities.
“If the last week has been any kind of indication of what it’s going to look like, we’re not going to be able to keep this going in the long term. It’s just not possible,” said Meikle.
But Meikle has not yet heard from the provincial government on whether EGADZ will be asked to take on more, and says it would also mean a potential reduction in services to keep up.
“We might have to start saying no to people that we can’t give diapers or formula. We might just start saying we don’t have any food for you, that we don’t have the ability to take you to your appointments.”
Funding is also a constraint, said Isbister, adding that her organization only receives so much in grants from Métis Nation–Saskatchewan.
Carr said there are 177 places across the city where people can get a take-home naloxone kit.
“So, you know, just ensuring those places are stocked up with those kits, cause there might be demand for them,” said Carr.
But Toby Esterby, chief operations officer for the Saskatoon Community Clinic, says he is already seeing big gaps.
“Our staff has seen an exponential increase in overdose responses in the community in the last 48 hours,” said Esterby.
Esterby added that the Saskatoon Fire Department has responded to over 100 overdose calls already in April.
Critics share concerns
The opposition is weighing in on what the closure means going forward.
Shadow Minister for Mental Health Betty Nippi-Albright says she is worried about people falling through the cracks.
“The many services provided were crucial to our response to the housing crisis, the drug crisis, and the mental health crisis,” Nippi-Albright said.
She says many who offer services like PHRs were already feeling overwhelmed and now must take on more.
“Many organizations are already at capacity, they’re struggling,” added Nippi-Albright.
The provincial government had allocated roughly $2.5 million for PHR’s outreach, child and family programming, and increased access to take-home naloxone kits.
Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block is also weighing in on the closure, releasing a statement Friday afternoon saying the closure marks a “significant change for our community,” adding that the absence of services may be felt more deeply over time.
“As a community, we recognize this transition will affect residents, partners, and systems across the city, and we remain focused on supporting people through this period of change,” Block said in the statement.
Health Canada said the facility’s exemption to operate supervised consumption expired on March 31 and would not be renewed until the organization could show it has its finances in order.
PHR’s board fired its executive director, Kayla DeMong, in late March, citing a significant financial shortfall and asked for donations at the time.
The board said the shortfall resulted from a 300 per cent increase in demand for services, and that they did not suspect theft or fraud, but rather made the move to avoid turning people away.
The board also said that more money was spent than revenues would allow.
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