SaskEnergy’s Share the Warmth program is back for its 30th year of handing out supplies to the province’s most vulnerable. The Crown Corporation’s President, Marc Guillet says in the beginning it was sweaters and sweatshirts that were handed out, then in 2012 the decision was made to broaden the amount of people helped through funding community-based organizations. This year, the funding is doubled to $100,000 with funding going to 106 grant recipients.

One of those recipients is the Central Urban Métis Federation in Saskatoon. CUMFi’s President, Shirley Isbister points to the extreme cold spells we have had this winter. She urges everyone to think about what that might feel like if you had nowhere to go. Isbister says, “You know when you go outside and you are walking from your house to your car, do you know how cold that is? And I often think people should stop there for a minute and think of the people that are walking all day in that, and no one is letting them in and there are no washrooms and no showers.” Isbister says when it comes to really making a dent in helping the homeless, millions of dollars would be needed to fund about 15 apartment blocks, fully supported with staff. She understands that it still wouldn’t cover the amount of homeless people in Saskatoon, but it would be a start. In the meantime, she says programs like Share the Warmth help the community, and you may not realize how much until you see someone coming through the door who is crying from the cold and you are able to bring them in, give them a snack and some supplies.

The Saskatoon Public Library has also received funding from Share the Warmth. Lydia Moss, Senior Manager of Inclusivity and Community Partnerships with the library, acknowledges that the issues are much greater than a lack of winter gear. She believes as a community we have a lot of work to do, but in the meantime, as organizations work collaboratively to achieve those greater goals, Share the Warmth gives them the ability to offer some level of support and protection in someone’s moment of need. “Without a doubt, collaboration and partnership are vital to the work that we do here at the library. It’s efforts like these that allow us to support our community beyond the traditional model of library services.”