Photo courtesy Instagram.
The manager of a homeless shelter in North Battleford is speaking out after two of their clients were given bus tickets out of the province by the Ministry of Social Services.
More than 500 homeless people have gone through Lighthouse North Battleford’s doors since it opened in January of 2015, but in December the province cut off funding for people who use the Lighthouse by 90 per cent.
One man who’s been staying at Lighthouse for several months is among those who aren’t able to stay at the shelter due to the Ministry of Social Service’s recent funding changes. And last night, he was given $500 Greyhound bus tickets to British Columbia, where some of his family members live.
Soon after, another Lighthouse client who has significant intellectual disabilities and mental health issues, decided he wanted to join him on the bus. Within 15 minutes of talking to Social Services he too had a ticket, said Lighthouse North Battleford’s manager Caitlin Glencross.
The “plan” these two men have is to stay at a homeless shelter once they reach BC, she added.
The Ministry of Social Services confirms that social workers approved the bus tickets.
Glencross says going to BC – with no plans for important medication, no family to stay with, no jobs lined up, and no caregivers – is a recipe for failure for those men.
“For the one individual for sure, I don’t think he understands the scope of what he’s doing. This is his first time out of the province, this is his first time not being with a caregiver,” Glencross said.
That man has alternated between living with his family and the Lighthouse.
Glencross has been speaking out for months about how tough it’s been to help vulnerable people when their funding was slashed with very little notice.
Lighthouse take in people from nine surrounding First Nations, Lloydminster and Meadow Lake.
By providing shelter, meals, and stability in people’s lives, they are able to deal with greater issues like addiction.
“We can see the change. We’re the ones working frontline with these people. We see the changes, we see improvements in their lives,” Glencross said.
In Lighthouse’s short time operating, its staff has seen one man kick his addiction after 10 years without a house. He’s been in sober housing for four months. Another woman who’s well known on the streets of North Battleford for her struggle with addictions has been sober for two months now, the longest time she’s been sober in 30 years.
Now, Lighthouse North Battleford is “at the end of its rope” as far as funding goes, and there’s a distinct possibility it will be forced to close in the coming months.
“Right now we are continuing to house people until we can’t anymore,” Glencross said.
In addition to dealing with all this, Glencross has a very real concern for those two men. She and other staff at Lighthouse have asked the two men to phone them within the next week to make sure they’re alright.
“We worry about them. We’ve been working with these individuals for a long time and we hope nothing happens to them. We hope they’re okay. But that’s part of why I’m speaking out is because if they go there and they’re not okay, and we’ve just shipped people out of the province without any supports or case planning done, who is responsible for that?” Glencross asked.
“Are we doing our due diligence to make sure that these folks are successful when we haven’t done our due diligence when they were in the province? You know, those are questions that I ask.”
The Deputy Minister of Social Services does say they’ll be looking into whether case plans were designed for these two men.
Minister Donna Harpauer has issued the following statement:
“I reaffirmed to the Deputy Minister that regulations require a case plan be established by workers and clients before transportation be provided. The Deputy Minister is also reviewing if case plans were in place for these individuals and he will be reminding front line workers that clients should have a plan in place before they are given bus tickets for destinations away.”
