SASKATOON -- Extended periods of intense heat in Saskatchewan are creating concern for those who don’t have the luxury of air conditioning and shelter.

Non-profit organization EGADZ has opened its downtown centre to those looking for a spot to cool down and rehydrate, while handing out as many as 50 bottles of water to people in the downtown core as part of a hot weather strategy.

“A lot of them are dehydrated and they don't even realize it until, for a lot of people, they get really sick,” said EGADZ executive director Don Meikle.

“And if they are in trouble out there because of the heat, we’ll make sure they get to a hospital or to somewhere to get taken care of.”

The Saskatoon Indian and Metis Friendship Centre is also offering shelter from the heat, while limiting the number of people in their lobby to 10 because of COVID-19 precautions.

“We give them water, we let them sit just for a little bit to get out of the heat, and ensure that they're okay and that they're in a good place,” said executive director Robert Doucette.

They’ve also hit the street, delivering resources to those that need them.

“Our van is going out on 20th Street, we start at the safe injection site where we’re giving out anywhere between 40 and 100 breakfasts to people that need it out there, and water and juice.”

Hot weather strategy causing disruption to EGADZ food delivery service

“There's some unhappy people,” Meikle said.

EGADZ had been delivering close to 1,000 food packs per week to needy people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those orders are now being interrupted by their outreach staff tending to people in the heat.

“We've started to limit the numbers that we're delivering a day and explain to people that we're an outreach program also, so we need to be out on the street.”

Meikle says while the organization “can’t be everything to everybody” they are still doing their best to make sure those that need food will get it.

“We're having to ask a lot more questions of the people that we're helping to make sure that it's a it's a real need,” he said. “It's an emergency service, so a young mom with three kids calls and needs food — we're going to get her food.”

When cooler temperatures return and the need for hydration on the streets goes down, Meikle says food deliveries will continue, and for the time being people that are able to can pick up food packs at their downtown centre at 485–1st Avenue North.

“We're always just adjusting,” he said. “It's like you're jumping from crisis to crisis, and how do we help put out this fire, and how do we help with this, and how do we be a part of the community.”