Saskatoon patrol group aims to help homeless people - Action News
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Saskatoon

Saskatoon patrol group aims to help homeless people

Volunteers with the SAGE Clan Patrol help the homeless people around the city.

Volunteers with the SAGE Clan Patrol help homeless people around the city

a group of volunteers with donations in their hands and in their wagon, standing in snowy street downtown Saskatoon, posing for the camera.
Volunteers with SAGE Clan Patrol spend hours each week searching for people in the city who need help. (SAGE Clan Patrol Saskatoon/Facebook)

The Saskatoon Sage Clan Patrol, a new dedicated volunteer group, actively patrols the city's streets, distributing toques, mittens, socks, jackets, and food to those who call the streets home.

A member, Memphis Ramsden-Enns, said that their group got the idea froma group in Lethbridge of the same name.They collect and hand out donations, and if needed, connect people to social services.

"When it's colder we do a combination of vehicle and foot patrols. Some people are walking up and down the streets and some people have got their cars packed with donations and they're going to some of the harder-to-get-to spots to try to get to people," she said.

LISTEN|A Saskatoon patrol group is hoping to help those in need, this winter and year-round:
It's hard to imagine living outdoors in winter temperatures... let alone at any time of the year. But it's the reality for many in our city. The SAGE Clan Patrol wants to help, and host Theresa Kliem learns more about the group with member Memphis Ramsden-Enns.

Ramsden-Enns said what they do is basically just a temporary Band-Aid.

"We meet people that are in between situations or who have been denied services and so we are sort of the Band-Aid that keeps them alive until hopefully they can access those services and get to a better place," she said.

She mentioned thatpeople need to be reminded when the winter is milder, homeless people are still freezing.

"For somebody that's stuck on the street and doesn't have anywhere to be or to go, it'snot a whole lot nicer out," she said.

Ramsden-Enns also said The Saskatoon Sage Clan Patrol is hoping to expand and be able to help more people as they have been getting a lot of invitations from lots of community organizations.