White Pony Lodge highlights community and safety in North Central as it nears 10-year anniversary

Volunteers with White Pony Lodge have picked up 26,000 syringes in 10 years. (DJ Carnegie/CTV News)

For the past 10 years, White Pony Lodge has been walking the streets of North Central, building relationships with those in the area, and helping keep streets clean.

The volunteer-based organization takes part in weekly patrols to hand out food and other items to those who need it, as well as picking up dangerous items.

Through a decade of operation, board member Nicki Clarke said the organization has picked up a total of 26,000 syringes.

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The groups also picks up items like batteries, lighters pill bottles, caps/parts, condoms, paraphernalia, armbands, drugs/pills, razors, and weapons.

While disposing of dangerous items is a large part of its mission, White Pony Lodge also emphasizes creating relationships with those in the neighbourhood.

To do that, team members provide food and clothing items during their patrols and lend an ear to anyone who wants to chat.

“We get to be there for people, and we get to just provide some dignity … some humanity to people, provide some friendship and someone to talk with,” said Joel Kerr, another board member.

“A lot of people don’t have someone to go to or don’t have someone that really cares or knows what they’re going through, so I like getting to be there and be that person for them.”

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Speaking with CTV News, several volunteers also highlighted the satisfaction that comes with helping others and making a difference in someone’s day.

“It always honestly feels great. It’s a way to give back,” said Emma Metz, who has been volunteering for three years.

“Sometimes it feels a little helpless when you see everybody in need. It’s just an awesome way to do something.”

Zia Chocho, who’s been volunteering for about nine months, told CTV News that making an impact while on patrols is what keeps him going.

“The smiles, the thank-yous, the community response,” he said. “You may think it’s a small act, but for everybody else, it’s something big in their lives that makes a big difference for them.”

Another volunteer, Zalim Cooper, said she started volunteering a year and a half ago for the same reason.

“I think just knowing that even if we’re doing something little, it’s making a big difference in people’s lives,” she said. “Just seeing the people that smile at us or honk at us or just the kids that run up to us all the time, even if we’re just giving them a sticker or a sandwich.”

Clarke said White Pony Lodge was started by a group of passionate Indigenous women as a response to violence in the neighbourhood, but over the past 10 years, it has evolved into so much more.

“It was a way to take back the neighbourhood and a way to show the good in the community and spread good,” she explained.

“Over the years, it’s evolved based on people’s abilities and time. During COVID, one of the needs was food, and we ended up doing hot meals every week. We’ve since brought that down to about once a month and added sandwiches when we go out on patrol.

So, it’s evolved, but it stayed within the North Central community, and it stayed as a way to help and do good in the community," she added.

According to Clarke, a typical patrol has about three to seven volunteers, while a hot meal patrol will have around five to eight people out.

“There’s also the behind-the-scenes people who help with our data management, our website, our statistics. What we have found by tracking it over the years [is] that the number of items that we pick up on patrol significantly increases when we have more volunteers on patrol,” she said.

“So, we appreciate all our volunteers, but we can do far more good when we have more boots on the ground out there helping our most vulnerable community members.”

Clarke said White Pony feels like it’s part of the community and that it receives appreciation for its work.

“We are always getting honked at, big waves. People know who we are,” she said. “We get donations as we’re going [and] many, many positive comments.”

As for what’s next for the organization, Clarke said they will simply continue doing what they’re doing.

“We try to always keep going within our capacity, and we want to always be out there to create a safe and connected community for North Central Regina,” she said.

White Pony Lodge will officially celebrate its 10-year anniversary on June 14.

With files from DJ Carnegie