The Lighthouse Emergency Shelter in North Battleford will stay open until at least September.

That from Executive Director Don Windels who says Metis Nation – Saskatchewan funding will keep their doors open, but he doesn’t want to get to the end of September and have to go through this process again. Windels wants to have funding in place prior to that time, and the Lighthouse will be seeking community commitment, as well as provincial and federal support.

Windels states Saskatchewan is the only province that doesn’t have core funding for shelters. He says it would be good if the province could get the federal government involved as the Lighthouse supports a lot of Indigenous individuals and some of them fall under federal jurisdiction.

Windels is thankful to the MN-S and its statement that no one should be out in the cold, or sleeping in the streets during the pandemic.

At the end of February, the Provincial Metis Housing Corporation decided to switch their funding from the Battlefords emergency shelter to programs in the far north. This would have closed the doors to the Lighthouse in Battleford at the end of March, until the recent announcement of the Metis Nation – Saskatchewan commitment to funding.