By: Danielle Dufour
The White Pony Lodge, a non-profit organization, has been serving Regina’s North central community for 10 years by offering weekly patrols to pick up dangerous items while also helping those in need.
The 10-year celebration took place on Sunday at the mâmawêyatitân centre and included a bison roast feast and lots of activities for families to enjoy.
“White Pony Lodge is a group in north central, we work on harm reduction,” said Zailin Cooper, a board member. “We do garbage cleanups in the summer, and we hand out food to people in the community.”
Every Friday and Saturday night for 3 hours each night, a group of volunteers from White Pony Lodge come together and walk in the neighbourhood focused on keeping the streets safe for everyone by removing drug related items.
White Pony Lodge has a board of 10 members, all volunteers, in addition the volunteers that also join in on the weekly walks.
“We work with a lot of homeless people picking up dangerous items on the streets and just helping where we can,” said Cooper.
(Photo: Items the patrol team commonly picks up during their walks. Photo by Danielle Dufour)
At the start of every patrol, the members and volunteers begin with a circle and go over all the safety guidelines. They make sure everyone has the proper equipment needed and a vest to wear.
“We go over the items we pick up, how to pick those up properly,” said Cooper. “We never pick up anything with our hands, we show them how to use our pickers, keep it below the waste, and put it in our buckets.”
All the board members have naloxone training and first aid training.
Zia Chocho initially got involved as a volunteer one year ago to get out and do something for the community.
(Photo supplied by White Pony Lodge Facebook Page of a volunteer collecting dangerous items.)
“I do this to make a difference,” said Chocho. “It’s not much, but it does make a difference in people’s lives everyday.”
Volunteering with White Pony Lodge has really impacted Chocho.
“It’s been fantastic. I’ve been able to grow as a person more than I could imagine,” said Chocho. “We always get good feedback. We’re making a difference helping.”
Jason Littleford, the education coordinator with AIDS Program South Saskatchewan (APSS), was one of the partners in attendance for the celebration to support White Pony Lodge.
“We have a tool, it’s called reportneedles.ca,” said Littleford. “People can go and report syringes that are being discarded in the community. We will pick them up every day, all year round.”
APSS takes the data and uses geo locating of all the places where there is a higher prevalence of needles being discarded, then they will do pop-up testing.
“It’s a partnership with the University of Regina and APSS,” said Littleford. “Unfortunately, with substance use disorders, the last thing on your mind is your health.”
The pop-up testing is called Three Infections, One Fight. They offer sexual health education, test people for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C and have a phlebotomist and nurses on site.
(TOP PHOTO: Elder Archie Weenie plays drums and sings while volunteers and attendees participate in a round dance. Photo by Danielle Dufour)