Riverside Mission seeing an increased use of services leading up to holidays

Rachel Mullins, emergency services manager at the Riverside Mission, has been seeing an increase in people attending the shelter’s meals — and for that, she is grateful to offer someplace welcoming.

The Christmas season is tough for some, said Mullins, between the holidays and the weather. Every year, the shelter sees an increase in people coming out to meals and seeking shelter with Riverside Mission. 

This year has been no different, with an increase in attendance at the daily meals offered by the shelter. 

“As Christmas is coming and people are feeling the strain or the stress or the loneliness of the season, we're noticing more people coming to our meals and utilizing them,” said Mullins.

Mullins also noted there was a brief increase in those seeking shelter as the temperatures outside dropped, but the recent warm streak has eased that need as of late. She has also had people express needs for other things that the shelter doesn’t necessarily provide, like Christmas presents.

“We do see that people come, and we see a lot of things like people asking for a little more help,” said Mullins. “And we try to just help out by maybe directing them to different places, but also just making them feel welcome and part of the community.”

Mostly, Mullins is glad to see people reaching out to the shelter.

“It’s great because we want to create an environment where they feel welcome and they feel like they're family and so they don't feel so alone during this time,” said Mullins. 

The increase in numbers is one of the reasons Riverside Mission is staying open over the holidays. The shelter will be closed on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, but will be serving regular meals the remainder of the week. 

The other reason is their new partnership with Souls Harbour Mission in Regina.

“They like to see as many days open as possible over the holidays, for that very reason of having a place for people to come, and so that's what we're going to be doing this year as well,” said Mullins. 

Mullins is impressed by the way the community has responded to the shelter’s calls for help this time of year, with donations steadily coming in to help with the increase in numbers.

“Donations from the community has been pretty amazing, lots of people bringing in socks and underwear, toques, mitts, things that definitely our people can use,” said Mullins. 

Clothing items are given away during Riverside Mission’s clothing giveaways, and Mullins noted that they could always use more women’s and children’s items. 

“We have now started, in our clothing giveaways, getting stuff for women and children because there's a big need for that out there too,” said Mullins. “We find that we're getting a lot of things for men, not as much for women and children.”

Donations are always accepted at the shelter, said Mullins, and they are always greatly appreciated.  

“Whenever there's a need, [Moose Jaw] always steps up and we've never, ever had a time where we haven't pushed, put out a need and not seen it met,” said Mullins. 

“We, as Riverside Mission staff, feel that we live in a great community who's very, very supportive of us and always reaching out to meet our needs, and we just want to thank the community of Moose Jaw,” she added.