SASKATOON, Sask. (CCN) — With prayer, song, and reflections, an overnight warm-up location at St. Mary Catholic Church in Saskatoon was blessed Nov. 1 in preparation for a third year providing warmth, safety, and dignity to men experiencing homelessness.
During the opening, Elder Irene Sharp of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish smudged the space that will welcome hundreds in from the cold as of Nov. 3, 2025. Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen blessed the hall and led prayers for all those who will be sheltered, and for all those providing outreach.
The overnight warm-up location is operated through a partnership between St. Mary Catholic Parish and The Salvation Army, with meals provided by The Friendship Inn. The location operates in collaboration with all levels of government, city emergency services, community agencies, and security partners, with support from the wider community, donors and volunteers.
This year the warm-up location will open in the church hall at 6:00 p.m. each night — earlier than in past years — with Friendship Inn providing both supper and breakfast to those seeking shelter.
This season also marks the first winter operating under the newly-established Mission & Outreach Office at St. Mary Parish, created to strengthen outreach and expand capacity to serve vulnerable neighbours with increased coordination, collaboration, and compassion.
Community support has already been incredible, says Mission and Outreach Coordinator Jennifer Nunes, with residents, churches, and schools donating winter essentials, hygiene items, and funds to sustain the program.
“This warm-up location stands as a sign of compassion and community partnership,” says Nunes. “We are committed to ensuring that those who have nowhere to go on cold nights find warmth, dignity, and care. With the support of our partners, volunteers, parishes, schools, and donors, we are honoured to welcome and serve our brothers once again this winter.”
Blessing held ahead of site opening
Myron Rogal, coordinator of Justice and Peace in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon began by introducing Elder Irene Sharp who offered a smudge “to begin in a good way to bless this space,” he said. A brief liturgy was then held, which included scripture reading from Matthew 25, prayers, and hymns led by a choir of parishioners from St. Mary Parish and beyond.
After the opening hymn “The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor,” St. Mary pastor Fr. Kevin McGee welcomed all those assembled for the blessing ceremony, including dignitaries, partners, and elected officials. Also present for the opening were parishioners from around the city and representatives of many other groups and organizations, including the Catholic school division, St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Thomas More College, Development and Peace, the Knights of Columbus, and Catholic Women’s League.
“Thank you for being here, in whatever capacity, whatever group or organization or partner that you represent: it is a blessing that you are here,” McGee said.
“This is our third year at St. Mary’s that we are opening our hall as a warm-up location for our brothers and sisters who have found a place of refuge and safety here,” he said, expressing appreciation for the partnerships that have permitted the hours to be extended this year, noting in particular the Salvation Army who partners with the parish in operating the location, and Friendship Inn which will provide meals.
McGee recalled the words of Pope Francis in the 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium that “even in a stable, Mary was able to provide a home for her child Jesus.”
“We too can provide a sense of security — perhaps, in a sense, a home — a place of welcome. And what is our motivation? It is love; to once again be that presence of Christ in the world and to welcome the most vulnerable in our society,” said McGee. “We begin in prayer, hearing from our partners, and we do it together.”
The new St, Mary Coordinator of Mission and Outreach, Jennifer Nunes, shared her testimony about walking with her life-long parish through the at-times difficult discernment about whether to open the church hall as a winter warm-up location, the emotional conversations with parishioners, and then the talks with her own children — who inspired her to embrace the call to help their neighbours in need.
“We are meant to be the face of Christ to others, and to see the face of Christ in others,” she said, relating how her family reached out to help and then to encounter those taking shelter in the hall, and stressing the importance of building relationships grounded in humble listening, and in dignity, compassion, and hope.
“Together in this mission we are partners, giving voice to those who feel voiceless,” she said to those gathered for the hall blessing. “We are building partnerships and bridges with other amazing agencies that are already working the front lines and together we are the body of Christ. Change begins when we stop asking what will it cost us, and start asking: what will it cost if we do nothing?”
Bishop Mark Hagemoen offered prayers, saying: “we come together to bless this place; it is already a blessed and holy place, but in a very special way we dedicate and ask God’s blessing as it continues to receive the people who are in need of care and shelter and protection.”
In his reflection, the bishop expressed thanks to civic leaders and levels of government that are making the overnight location possible, and in particular he thanked the Salvation Army for their leadership and partnership in the project. “We could not do this without you,” he said.
He also acknowledged the support of Friendship Inn, nearby St. Paul’s Hospital, and emergency services, in particular the Saskatoon Fire Department. “I thank them all for their partnership, their service and their expertise,” he said.
The bishop cited Pope Leo’s first apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, which focuses on care of the poor, and which echoes a statement by St. John Chrysostom that “if the faithful do not encounter Christ in the poor who stand at the door, they will not be able to worship him even at the altar.”
Hagemoen noted: “In the spirit of this message, ignorance of the poor is ignorance of Christ.” adding that we must “name and claim that we are all poor before the Lord… walking in the way of service to others is the way in which we acknowledge and help our own poverty… we see the need and we are called to respond.”
The bishop then blessed the hall with holy water and incense, and all those assembled took part in a candle-lighting ceremony with the flame of a central “candle of hope” passed from person-to-person to light up the dark hall.
After the prayer service a number of other leaders also offered brief reflections, expressing appreciation for the community partnerships that support the overnight location, as well as hope for finding more ways to assist those in the community experiencing homelessness and poverty.
“I just want to say how grateful we are to St. Mary’s for the partnership that allows us to operate the warming centre in this room. Sadly, it is incredibly needed,” said Gordon Taylor of the Salvation Army.
“We need to do better as a city at having longer-term plans to help people who are without proper housing,” he said. “But we are thankful that for this winter, for the third year in a row we have the opportunity to serve the men who are in need of a place for the night in the cold weather.”
“We are thankful for all our partnerships,” Taylor stressed, noting a new partnership this year with Saskatchewan Trades and Skills, which has “done an incredible job of recruiting and training a lot of the staff that will work here. That is a new thing, and we are really, really grateful for that.”
There are a lot of challenges in the world, he noted, with many suffering in our own community every day. “When we think of all the issues that relate to poverty and homelessness it can be overwhelming when we try to win that battle. The focus should be on each little piece that we can do, that we can achieve along the way. And one victory that we can achieve this winter is that no one would freeze on the streets overnight because they have nowhere to go.”
Work is underway to open a location for women as well, he said. The St. Mary Parish Hall location will be for men only for the second year.
Sandra Kary, CEO of Saskatoon Friendship Inn, noted that when the overnight shelter opened in the church hall three years ago, those staying overnight would leave the warm-up location in the morning and go over to the Friendship Inn for breakfast, which would open early to accommodate them. The following year, breakfast was delivered to the men at the hall — and this year, the delivery will include supper each evening, and breakfast in the morning.
“We all know that food is more than nourishment, and (bringing the food to the hall) actually provided a calmness and a stability, and you know that food makes you feel like you are at home, and you belong and there is friendship,” she noted. “We are just honoured to be a part of this work.”
Kary noted that outreach to those at the overnight warm-up location is an extension of the Friendship Inn mission “to be a community without hunger, a people with hope.”
“So as we join with you and our community to serve our neighbours in need, this is a way that we get to extend our mission as well,” she said. “You have to know that our head chef says that when she cooks, she is cooking for kings and queens. So there is love in our food and we bring it to those who are in need and we extend love along with it.”
MLA Ken Cheveldayoff, Minister of Advanced Education brought greetings from the provincial government, acknowledging other elected officials also present, including April ChiefCalf, MLA for Saskatoon-Westview, and Saskatoon City Councillor for Ward 2 Senos Timon.
“This centre continues to serve as a warm, welcoming space for those in need in our community,” Cheveldayoff noted, thanking all those involved in making this possible. “You are providing dignity, hope and connection,” he said. “You are creating a place where people can find support, compassion and opportunity to take steps toward a better future.”
“Our government recognizes that homelessness is a complex issue and we are committed to working closely with community organizations, Indigenous partners and municipalities to respond to local needs,” he said, citing initiatives related to increasing supported housing, emergency shelter spaces, and services that improve coordination and safety, including funding to support drop-in spaces.
Jennifer Nunes concluded the program with final words of thanks. “To all who have linked arms in compassion: thank you. We are not competitors — we are collaborators in mercy and we are stronger together. We may not change the system overnight, but we can light a fire of hope that sets change in motion.”
Nunes noted that donations are being accepted by St. Mary Mission and Outreach Ministry to help meet needs of those served at the overnight location, and she expressed her thanks to the local Catholic schools that recently delivered “literally truck loads” of items to the Mission and Outreach ministry office.
“I truly believe that by making our children aware and moved by compassion today, then the future generations will do better than we did,” she said.
“Don’t be people of words, be people of action. Don’t wait for someone else, be the someone… don’t speak it: do it. Christ never said ‘watch and wait,’ he said ‘go!’”
