An Alberta-based Christian non-profit is getting ready to run housing initiatives out of Saskatoon’s Lighthouse Supported Living facility downtown.
The Mustard Seed will be taking over the building on Dec. 1.
“We exist to eliminate homelessness and reduce poverty in the areas where we serve,” James Gardiner, CEO of the Mustard Seed, said. “Until that mission is accomplished, we’re not going to stop expanding.”
This will be the seventh city in Canada that the Mustard Seed is working in. The organization was founded in 1984 and helps people combat homelessness and poverty by providing housing, food and employment.
The non-profit is working with the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and the Saskatoon Housing Authority to provide housing initiatives and wrap-around support to people facing homelessness over the next few years.
James Gardiner, the CEO of the Mustard Seed, said he is excited to work on improving the homelessness problem in Saskatoon. (Chanss Lagaden/CBC)
Gardiner said that at one time the site had up to 100 people living in it. The Mustard Seed will reduce that number to 60 people who have not been able to find alternative housing.
“We’re coming in to actually serve the people that are there, the 60 residents, in terms of managing the building and providing the support and food and whatnot for the people that are there,” he said.
“We get to be part of the solution to see them get their life back, to see them get dignity.”
Gardiner said the group will looking to relocate those currently residing in the building in the next two years.
He said the Mustard Seed will work closely with the Saskatchewan Housing Authority to make that change and come up with a transition plan for those people.
“We don’t know where that’s going to be,” said Gardiner. “We don’t have the knowledge of your community. My sense talking to the existing operators that are here, everybody finds this to be an insurmountable problem.”
The province bought the Lighthouse property in December 2023. The Mustard Seed will not own the building, but signed a five-year contract to operate out of the space.
The Mustard Seed said it will employ up to 80 staff members at two locations using funding from a government contract. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)
Gardiner said he did not have specific details on how much money the five-year contract was worth, but that the group is looking to have 70 to 80 staff funded by the contract.
Much of that staff will be deployed to a new 40-bed emergency shelter located at 210 Pacific Avenue, which the Mustard Seed will also be operating.
Gardiner said there will be a transition period, with operations expected to begin sometime this winter.
Reconciliation concerns
A local Indigenous activist said he’s concerned about a Christian organization being asked to tackle homelessness in Saskatoon, as a large number of affected people identify as Indigenous.
“That’s the problem that we have,” David Fineday, an Indigenous activist from Sweetgrass First Nations, said. “Will it remain Christian-based or can we have it spirituality based?”
Fineday, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop who has been homeless himself, emphasised that any effort to help the community is welcome, but said it must acknowledge Indigenous spirituality and the core historic reasons that put some Indigenous people in this situation.
“Coming out of the system, you’re told to do this, do this now, go to bed, eat,” Fineday said. “You get out of the system, you don’t want to be treated like that no more, so you go homeless.”
Gardiner said the Mustard Seed is committed to understanding people’s histories and devoted to working together in reconciliation.
“We are a Christian organisation, we understand that’s traumatizing to folks,” Gardiner said. “Traditionally we have partnered with agencies that have knowledge of how to work with the various populations we work with, including First Nations and Indigenous.”
The Mustard Seed said it’s in the process of building those partnerships and looking forward to learning about Saskatoon while working with the city’s vulnerable population.