Sometimes it is as simple as leaving a garden house out at the community garden so someone can get a drink.  Andrea Ledding with the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership says they are urging the community to step up and watch out for the city’s vulnerable during this heat wave.

SHIP’s guiding principles are that individual dignity must be respected even and especially in emergency situations and each person should have access to water and the option to escape extreme heat in the summer.  Ledding says you can donate water to one of the cool down locations as an idea for helping out but they really are asking the wider community to look out for the most vulnerable by providing a drink of water or a cool space.

Ledding says it’s really about being good neighbours to one another especially because a lot of the non-profits will be closed during the peak of the the heat and points out they’re the ones generally doing the heavy-lifting in this sector, on a shoe string, and support from the community is welcome. The Safe Bus Program is available to assist anyone of any age who needs immediate shelter or needs emergency service by flagging down or going to a parked bus.