Lloyd man ‘Running For Shelter’ to raise awareness and funds for men’s shelter

“It was…the community that I found that was closest to the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border,” he said.

“The reason I chose those two locations is because…we are primarily funded by the Alberta and Saskatchewan (governments) so, I wanted to drive the awareness for the government supports for emergency shelters in both Alberta and Saskatchewan,” he added.

The goal is to raise $300,000 for the new shelter though the Capital Campaign is $1.2 million.

Kneen moved back to the Lloydminster area in January and since he took on a lead role for the society in March, the board of directors gave him a mandate to build better community relations.

“Obviously, there’s a bit of a stigma with homelessness and unhoused population members,” he said, noting he wanted to work with different organizations along with the community.

“There’s been such an influx in homelessness and unhoused members – Canada-wide – so, in Lloyd in particular, we’re seeing a large increase in clients that are needing additional supports,” said Kneen.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)’s website, “At least 235,000 people in Canada experience homelessness each year.”

As such, the board directed Kneen to start looking for a new building for the Lloydminster men’s shelter.

“We want to move from a 28-bed emergency shelter to a 60-bed shelter,” he said.

Part of the shelter would feature a 30-bed dorm for those working on their sobriety. The other 30-bed dorm would be separate and used for those who are still active in their addictions and mental health challenges.

Currently, the emergency shelter has clients mixed together and Kneen said somebody who might have gone through a treatment program could be sharing a bunk with someone who is still in crisis.

“It triggers them back into those behaviours and addictions again,” he said.

“It’s tough for clients because – especially for the ones trying to find jobs and trying to overcome their addiction or challenges that they’re going through at the current time,” he said.

“Seeing them not be able to hit their full potential – we have a transitional housing unit ourselves and we’re fully booked.”

To complete the run, Kneen will have the support of a pilot vehicle with a camper – driven by his mother – and he will sleep in a tent.

“So many of our unhoused community members sleep in tents or they just have tarps that they use, so I really wanted to drive the awareness and show the challenges – even in the crazy hot heat – I’m still going to be staying in a tent,” said Kneen.

Though the journey has yet to begin, he’s already preparing for it from a physiological perspective and is anticipating learning about mental resilience.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be physically demanding, obviously if there’s forest fires then there’s going to be smoke, then there’s going to be another hurdle that we’ll have to go through,’ he said.

“A lot of unhoused community members have asthma, or they have other physical disabilities or challenges that they deal with on a daily basis.”

Donations can be made through www.lloydminstershelter.com, follow @runningforshelteryll on Instagram and TikTok for updates on Kneen’s progress and for those wishing to run virtually on Strava, be sure to tag them and use the #RunningForShelter.

Meanwhile, residents of the Battlefords will be able to see him running down the highway on or around August. 16.

“I’m very much looking forward to – I know it sounds crazy – but the discomfort,” he said.

“I want to put myself into to an uncomfortable position so that I can see the challenges that these individuals are facing.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On X: jls194864

by Julia Lovett-Squires

Lloyd man ‘Running For Shelter’ to raise awareness and funds for men’s shelter

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