A new community-based organization dedicated to supporting Regina’s unhoused has now been operating for a month. Based at the Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre, the “Community Outreach Team” provides wellness checks, hygiene and harm reduction supplies, transportation, as well as snacks to people experiencing homelessness in Regina. “That’s the advocacy part right, stepping up and helping them wherever they need it,” said John Whitestar, the community outreach and service support manager. “A lot of people, they feel a little jilted from other agencies in the community and they don’t know how to approach them. So what the outreach team does is they actually come in and they help them get the services that they need. “ The organization is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. On one of their busiest days, Whitestar said the centre received 30 calls. The initiative is also known as the Wicihitowin Outreach Team, which means “helping hands” in Cree. It replaces the city’s former Regina Street Team which ceased operations at the end of August. “We try not to reinvent the wheel. If it’s working we utilize the same things that they used in the past,” Whitestar said, reiterating the current team is not much different from the former in terms of approach. “That’s part of setting them up with the internal services that we have because we also have a warming shelter that we’re going to open up in November.” The team also helps connect people to local and provincial resources. “There are different agencies around this area. They got the encampment team across the street here, we got Carmichael’s around the corner here, Salvation Army, we’re all agencies sticking together trying to help out our relatives here in the community,” said Whitestar. With the cold weather already here, he added donations are encouraged to help the Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre provide food and winter supplies to Regina’s most vulnerable. In March, the centre closed down after experiencing a fire at its building. Although some of its services opened a few months ago, administration has been working out of its Rae Street office in the meantime. However, with renovations and repairs for the centre’s second floor expected to finish by November, the Community Outreach Team will be moving its services there. The City of Regina has allocated $2.04 million of provincial funding for 2026 and 2027 operations, specifically for supporting the operation of extreme weather spaces and community-led outreach initiatives that support those experiencing homelessness, including the outreach team. CTV News has reached out to the City of Regina for comment regarding the team’s progress.
