On the road again

The Salvation Army Breakfast Van is going mobile! 

Starting on Monday, June 29th, the van is stopping at four locations each Monday | Wednesday | Friday

• 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. :: The Bridge on 20th
• 9:00 to 9:15 a.m. :: 525 Avenue I South
• 9:20 to 9:35 a.m. :: King George School
• 9:40 to 9:55 a.m. :: 401 Avenue E South

Women's Shelter Re-Zoning Meeting

On June 16th, the Salvation Army, the City of Saskatoon, and the citizens of Pleasant Hill got together to discuss our desire for a zoning change to allow us to purchase and open an emergency shelter for women and children who are homeless in Saskatoon.

Along the way, there was a mis-communication between the City and Pleasant Hill School and the school was locked when everyone got there. Luckily it was a perfect evening to sit outside and talk so instead of using the school's auditorium, we used the front lawn.  The result was we all got to enjoy the late spring weather and no one can accuse us of meeting behind closed doors!

If you missed the meeting or have any questions about the project, please don't hesitate to contact Captain Rhonda Smith at the Centre via phone (242.6833), e-mail, or in drop by in person.

Prison Barbecue

Every year the Salvation Army Communty Centre heads north to Prince Albert and the Riverbend Institution for our annual barbecue for the inmates and staff there.  This year we brought along 450 hamburgers, 350 hotdogs/smokies/sausages, a couple hundred cans of pop, salads, chips, and dessert for everyone.

Yesterday Major Henri, our program director Sylvia, and myself made the trek north and had a great time cooking, serving, and chatting with guys there.  Thanks to the chaplaincy staff at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary and Riverbend for such great hosts.   Also thanks to staff at Riverbend for being so accommodating to us.  We really appreciate it!

Garage Sale on Friday

Garage Sale this Friday.  The fun starts at 9:00 a.m.

Community Event: Garage Sale and Free Clothing at St. Vincent of Lerins Orthodox Church

Saturday May 30th
8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.

St. Vincent of Lerins Orthodox Church
Corner of Avenue E and 30th Street

Garage Sale and Free Clothing!

Restaurant Inspections

With a fair amount of fanfare, the Government of Saskatchewan has released their Saskatchewan Restaurant Inspection Reports.  Like all places that serve food in Saskatoon and area, the Salvation Army’s kitchen and dining room is regularly inspected as is our Emergency Response Vehicle. 

You can go online and check out what the reports say or you can take our word for it.  We are quite proud at how clean our kitchen at the Centre is kept and the report specifies that there are no issues with either one of our food service areas.

Poverty Linked to Higher Health Care Costs

The Star Phoenix has a quick story on how a new study links poverty to higher health care costs.  I was asked to comment and you can read the entire article here.

Low-income Saskatoon residents are disproportionately more likely to visit a hospital, make use of expensive health services and take medication, says a study to be published Wednesday.

The paper, to be published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, is the first of its kind in Canada to link individual income levels to health survey information from Statistics Canada on a regional level, co-author Mark Lemstra says.

The study uses health and income data collected from 3,433 Saskatoon residents between 2000 and 2005. It confirms previous findings that low-income residents are more likely to use expensive health services, such as emergency rooms, and have poorer health overall.

Lemstra says more must be done to elevate low-income people to a middle-income range, which he says could save the province $179 million per year in health-care expenditures.

"You can't have a medical solution to non-medical problems," Lemstra said. "It costs an extra $179 million to ignore poverty."