Thursday, January 11, 2024
VOLUME 6 I ISSUE 29
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
Residents in Recovery faces major cuts JEANNETTE BENOIT-LEIPERT STAFF WRITER
.................................. Due to a lack of funding, the Residents in Recovery Society has been forced to cease the operation of life-changing recovery programs. Executive director, Tyler Lorenz, says the decision to discontinue pre and post-treatment sober living and outpatient day programming was brought forward by the board with a heavy heart. “It was pretty devastating … there’s really no options. We’re the only organization that takes people unfunded. Most places will require you to be on Alberta Works or Sask income support before you co me i nt o t h e ir p ro gram. We do not,” explained Lorenz. “We’ve seen it over and over again—if they don’t come directly from jail or remand directly to the centre they just don’t come. We talk to a lot of probation officers because
RM firefighters fear spring drought GEOFF LEE STAFF WRITER
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Let it snow, or even rain. That’s the wish of recently-appointed deputy fire chief Gerald Yaremy with the Britannia Fire Department to put an end to the unseasonably dry conditions sooner rather than later.
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Source File Photo a lot of our clients are on condition, so they’re all kind of beside themselves right now,” he said, adding they work closely with probation officers on both sides of the border. In a Jan. 8 press release Residents in Recovery stated that requests from both provincial governments had been made without success, and the existing funding from the Saskatchewan government was reduced when the cost-of-living
increase was removed from the contract the previous year. Recent changes to income support programs on both sides of the border have hurt the residents’ ability to pay the $540 monthly rent from the shelter allowance funded by these programs. Donations from the community have also dropped drastically over the past few years. “We had community donations in 2020—upwards of
$200,000 and then 2021 $175,000 and then 2022 $75,000 and then this year down to like $35,000,” said Lorenz, adding that the state of the economy likely plays a role in the decrease. Residents in Recovery will continue to run their family treatment program and childcare facility. They will be incorporated as separate non-profit organizations, and be operated as usual. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
If we don’t get some timely snow or some rain in the spring, it might make for an interesting summer.
There’s been no wildfires this season in the RM of Britannia, but Yaremy’s fingers are crossed for a big dump of snow to put some moisture in the ground by the spring. “If we don’t get some timely snow or some rain in the spring, it might make for an interesting summer,” he said last Thursday. “I drive around and I see how many dry slough beds there are that we used to draw
water from in case of emergency. Seeing those dry up is quite concerning.” He says finding water could be a problem depending on where they are in the RM. Yaremy thinks this is the driest winter so far during his 25 years as a firefighter. Despite warmer and drier-than-normal conditions in the area, throughout December and into the new year, the fire department hasn’t responded to any grass fires or anything yet. “We really haven’t had any issues,” said Yaremy chalking it up to luck. “We haven’t had any bans o r re stric tio ns. We’re just asking those in the RM to obtain a burn permit as normal. I would say just exercise caution and obtain permits if something is big enough.” Yaremy is optimistic everything will be okay with cooler weather on the way along with an eventual big dump of snow to end the dry spell. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2