Residents of neighbourhood once branded 'Canada's Worst' take charge and create change

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Sixteen years after a Regina neighbourhood was labelled "Canada’s worst" by a national magazine, a small army of residents, volunteers and organizers are busy working to shed the image.

Colloquially known to many in Regina as “the hood,” the North Central neighbourhood still faces addictions and housing issues, as well as crime and gang activity, according to many residents and advocates CTV News spoke with.

However, despite the challenges that persist in the neighbourhood, many people living there are optimistic that the efforts of passionate residents are helping to turn the page in the tight-knit neighbourhood.

Leah O’Malley volunteers at White Pony Lodge, an organization she says is working to promote a positive presence in the community.

“We patrol the neighbourhood for safety, we pick up needles and other dangerous items, we hand out food and we hand out sort of emergency one-off items like hygiene kits and shoes, boots, clothes, things like that,” she said.

The organization hosts community clean-ups and O’Malley said over 100 people showed up to take part in their most recent one.

“It was really fantastic, and all the organizations that helped us, we’re so small and we just do what we call ‘little things with big impact,’” she said.

White Pony Lodge also works to battle the negative perceptions many hold about North Central.

“We love people to come out on patrol with us,” O’Malley said. “I think they also get a sense for how much of a community it is and how actually nice people are.”

She said although the reputation of North Central can seem insurmountable, the only way to deal with it is by sharing the positivity the neighbourhood has to offer.

“If you’re afraid of something or scared of something, the best way to deal with that is to learn about it,” she said.

Janna Pratt has lived in North Central all her life. She chose to stay in the neighbourhood when she bought her home in 2015.

Over the years, Pratt says she has seen some things change for the worse, but she stays hopeful the neighbourhood can get back to how it was in the past.

“I love this neighbourhood. I remember what it was, what it could be, and my family has been here for hundreds of years,” she said.

“My neighbours are amazing, we all know each other,” she added. “It’s easy and everybody looks after everybody.”

Pratt said she sees many other First Nations homeowners in the area, noting that property prices in North Central are good.

“It takes a lot of work and a lot of love to live in here, but it is what it is,” she said. “I feel safe.”

“I would see so many people benefit from just owning their own home, just some of these older homes, I could see people just loving them up,” she added. “There’s so much potential.”

She said although she hears the stigma about the neighbourhood all the time, it doesn’t bother her.

“No matter where I’m at, there’s going to be issues no matter what, drug issues,” she said. “There’s no secrets, a lot of things are easier and out in the open here. It’s a more honest community, I find.”

O’Malley said there are some larger scale things that could be accomplished to help deal with some of the issues in the area.

“One of them is access to food,” she said. “We need a grocery store down there, and I think that would also promote a lot of businesses.”

She said in the past, the neighbourhood was home to lots of little shops, including a grocery store.

Pauline Gabriel is the manager for Go Green, a program that's run through the North Central Community Association (NCCA).

“A lot of people see people in North Central as being lazy and not being able to commit to things but I’ve got people who’ve worked for my program for 10 plus years,” she said.

The Go Green program evolved from a recycling program to an employer program, which gives people in the area a chance to work, by picking up garbage after events at Mosaic Stadium.

“Anybody who is willing to come out for four hours of work to work until 2, 3 in the morning, for a minimum wage job picking up garbage, you’re committed.”

The NCCA also runs a community garden program.

Maegan Krajewski, the community garden coordinator, said the work they do is proactive, not reactive.

“Food insecurity and hunger is a big issue in the community. Especially right now, I think a lot of people are trying to navigate rising grocery prices and cost of living going up,” Krajewski said.

The community garden is out in the public for anyone to enjoy and Krajewski says people can take part in harvesting the food, which is then given out for free.

Krajewski said she thinks some of the perception of the neighbourhood is embedded in stereotypes and prejudice about who lives in the community and what they do.

“I think a lot of that is very misguided,” she said. “I think a lot of people just maybe haven’t taken the opportunity to come and enjoy North Central and do all of the awesome things that are here.”

People from all over the city come to take part in the community gardens, Krajewski said.

“I think a lot of people are really surprised that North Central is so vibrant and that folks have so much knowledge and are so skilled,” she said.

Several other programs run out of the NCCA at the mâmawêyatitân centre, located in the neighbourhood, include the Renew Project, which works to beautify the neighbourhood by cleaning alleys and reducing vandalism.

The centre also houses a community engagement unit with the Regina Police Service, an effort to offer another positive presence in the neighbourhood.

Sgt. Kelly Gorman, a community engagement officer, said police officers are often there at the worst times of people’s lives, but he wants that to change.

“That added benefit or bonus if we’re working with core communities, we can bridge gaps and meet people where they’re at, from a community standpoint versus them seeing us as police officers,” he explained.

Gorman, who grew up in North Central, said he has a special relationship with the neighbourhood and tries to get involved in the community as much as he can.

“I remember what it used to be, I remember what I used to think it was like as a child, I remember in the last 25 years in policing, how it’s different, how it’s more challenging,” he said.

“Anytime any of the community organizations have a function, we would love to be part of it, everything from kids to seniors,” he said, noting that he also takes part in a mentorship program and helps with the community gardens.

Gorman said he's seen both negative and positive changes over the years, as both a police officer and as a community member.

From a policing standpoint, Gorman said the prevalence of guns in Regina has increased over the years, but said North Central’s reputation makes people think that all crime happens in that area.

“If you live in another part of the city, people assume only bad happens here, like if you live in this neighbourhood, [people assume] you’re part of a gang … so it’s a perception that people feed on.”

While Gorman acknowledges there are many at-risk people and a prevalence of gang activity in North Central, he said it isn’t the overwhelming majority.

“There’s people that have positive influence in that community that want it to succeed, but that’s a stereotype, and people get painted with the same brush if you live in that community or you work in that community,” he said. “It’s a tough one to shake.”

“At-risk people are all surrounded by addictions … and crime is sort of one way to feed that demon,” he added.

Gorman said the police community engagement unit sits on a number of committees and boards, including the Housing Standards Enforcement Team (HSET), which works to hold landowners accountable.

“Whether through a call for service or through social services, they identify that this house isn’t safe … so they put in referrals and HSET goes in there and holds those landlords accountable to bring those living standards up to appropriate standard, a legal standard,” he said.

Gorman said more and more, he sees residents trying to take ownership again.

“You go down 5th Avenue, for example, you have Eagle Heart, or you have All Nations Hope, you have the North Central Family Centre,” he said. “You go block by block by block and there’s community wraparound services … they’re all community-driven, community run, ground-level services.”

Gorman said police want to let people in the community know they’re safe, empowering them to be more active.

“Us being part of it, if that makes people feel safer, or that creates that trust where we can be part of the community, so they can reach out to us and be part of the community as well, that’s why we’re here,” he said.

North Central didn’t always have a negative stigma attached to it. The area began as an immigrant and working-class neighbourhood in the late 19th century.

According to the North Central Regina History Project, many local movements and provincial trends shaped the area, including the development of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the need to house returning WWII veterans, and a growing population of Indigenous people.

The neighbourhood was once a midway point between Regina's east and west town sites, given its proximity to the rail station and government buildings.

The neighbourhood originally served as the home for labourers of European descent who worked in railroad construction and services, and facilities in Regina’s industrial area, according to a report published by the North Central Community Partnership (NCCP).

In the 1960s, amendments to the Indian Act meant that ‘Status Indians’ were no longer penalized for leaving their reserves and establishing homes elsewhere, according to the report. Many chose to take up residence in North Central, with the neighbourhood quickly becoming home to a growing Indigenous population.

In the 1980s, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation started looking at ways to revitalize Regina's inner-city neighbourhoods, including North Central and the Cathedral District.

The idea was that if 10 per cent of housing stock was replaced with double-density new construction, it would create a healthier inner-city neighbourhood.

However, the plan was deemed impractical for North Central.

While the Cathedral area became a success story, North Central suffered, the NCCP report says.

Another spinoff effect was the migration of many poorer Cathedral residents to North Central due to the rising costs to own and rent homes as their former neighbourhood flourished.

Pratt said she thinks encouraging home ownership would help rejuvenate North Central. She's concerned by the number of rental homes in the neighbourhood.

“You don’t know who you’re renting to. We had one lady that was just evicted and she brought so much grief to our block,” she said. “She was drinking then she was just inviting random homeless people to join her and then they lingered.”

“Then her daughter was selling meth out of the house. I feel so bad for whoever moves into that house.”

She said while she’s seen families in rental houses, they often have to move.

“Landlords are … not putting anything into the homes,” she said. “[The empty buildings] are becoming blight. They just don’t have pride in their properties.”

“With all these empty homes, it’s hard for the kids to see that all the time,” she added. “Other cities have these policies where they’re forced to make [abandoned homes] look as if they’re nicely open with fake windows.”

“So that’s something that could be nice to make the neighbourhood a little bit more beautiful.”

Pratt said she thinks the reason people get stuck in a cycle of poverty is because their basic needs aren’t being met, and they’re just trying to get through the week.

“We all fight every day for different things in this neighbourhood,” she said. “Just that struggle consumes so much of our thought process, that what else are you supposed to be focusing on?”

“So I always think that if your basic needs were covered, then you could pursue some of those passions, or dreams, or get a job or do something to get yourself ahead in life,” she added. “You could start dreaming.”

Walking through the neighbourhood, Regina Mayor Sandra Masters points out several derelict and boarded-up homes that she says need to be torn down.

“They’re a human safety issue,” she said. “We knock down 10 a year but the problem is so significant, to have 177 properties, is crazy.”

When a new city manager took over the reins last year, Masters said she made it clear that North Central is a priority.

“I’m going, ‘Guys, we have to figure out a solution,’” she said.

Masters believes the city needs better data on what is actually happening in the neighbourhood.

“I asked the question, 'What’s rental and what’s owned?' and they’re like, ‘Mayor, we don’t know that.’ That would be very valuable information to know,” Masters said.

“The community needs to see investment, the community needs to see the city show up and do its job, so that’s tearing down the burnt out buildings, they’re completely unsafe, that is sidewalk repair, that is lighting,” she said.

“If I talk to folks that live here, they love the neighbourhood, they want to help, and I think it needs a bit of a shock to its current system.”

Masters says she thinks kids, especially younger children, need more support.

"It’s about hope and about involvement and opportunity so that there could be something else," Masters said, noting the hours of programming at the city-run mâmawêyatitân centre need to be expanded.

"We have to focus on youth."

Some changes are already in the works for the neighbourhood.

The North Central Family Centre (NCFC) and the City of Regina are working together to open a 30-unit multi-family residential building focused on rapidly providing housing.

“It is a beautiful community with beautiful people that are just struggling,” said NCFC executive director Kim Wenger.

“There’s so much complexity and uniqueness around what brings people to be in positions where they don’t have housing, they find themselves homeless, they can’t feed their kids," she said.

“Every story is unique and I think people just need to really stop making assumptions.”

Wenger herself has a long-standing connection to the neighbourhood, having grown up in North Central.

“Yeah, we have high rates of crime and stuff like that but if you really break down what makes crime happen, a lot of time it’s out of necessity and need for money,” she said.

She said she thinks there needs to be a multi-prong system approach to deal with the issues in the neighbourhood; with all levels of government and people coming together to support the overall issues driving poverty at the core.

“To get down to the really brass tacks, people need connection, you need love, you need family,” she said. “People need people.”

She said the other piece that people should have is basic needs.

“If people aren’t getting their basic needs met, then you have survival, you have just a constant driver of mental health or physical health issues,” she said. “You don’t have any time to really assess your trauma or even think about getting help for it so maybe you can grow above your circumstances.”

Meara Conway, MLA for Regina Elphinstone-Centre, says the phone often rings with people on the other end of the line who have complaints about the neighbourhood — but she says they usually end up chatting about the social forces behind the concerns.

“I hear from an increasing number of community members … that say, ‘North Central is my home, I love it and I want to fight for it, but I feel abandoned. Sometimes I do feel scared,’ I do hear that from people,” she said.

“It’s a damn shame because it’s a beautiful neighbourhood, it’s a tight-knit community, resilient, physically beautiful, like the old homes, the old trees, there’s really so much that is going for North Central,” she said.

Conway said the efforts of residents and community organizations are inspiring, but it’s simply too big of a job without outside help.

“That’s because they’re filling gaps … but why is North Central a dumping ground? We need targeted government policies to assist with some of the issues," Conway said.

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Social Services says it helps fund 15 organizations in the neighbourhood, many of them focused on providing prevention and support services.

The province also provides money for the Eagle Heart and Street Workers Advocacy Project, which provides family support programs, access to crisis support, transportation, and advocacy for at-risk youth.

A new provincially-funded 24-hour urgent care medical centre is expected to open in the neighbourhood in 2024.

Despite its challenges, Conway said she adores North Central and never feels unsafe strolling in the neighbourhood.

“It is a very engaged community,” she said. “People know each other, people have been there for generations, people look out for one another."

Masters says she sees "a huge opportunity" when she looks at North Central.

“You can’t abandon a neighbourhood,” she said.

Edited by Josh Lynn