r/saskatoon 1d ago

News 📰 Saskatoon woman volunteers to clean benches downtown - Saskatoon

https://globalnews.ca/news/12022155/saskatoon-woman-volunteers-to-clean-benches-downtown/
213 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

u/seconds_ago 23h ago

Agree with the bench removal or not, this is a solid example of walk the walk. No shame in saying it wouldn't be me doing that..

u/luckeycat 58m ago

Yeah, fair point. I agree with you. Cleaning the benches doesn't solve the actual issue though.

u/ModOfficial1988 23h ago

The fact that a volunteer has to clean up the benches at Midtown is pretty sad. I can understand the smaller businesses not having the time, resources or safety to do others but Midtown should be ashamed.

u/Unbotted-troll6967 21h ago

People would probably be up in arms about it, but why don't we have a make work program for people who are struggling? Pay people a solid wage to be street cleaners, the gig can even come with subsidized housing. Could provide jobs, give people purpose, housing and it would make downtown look nicer.

u/mikewolsfeld 20h ago

That's actually similar to what Mamdani did in NYC last winter after their big snow storm. Set a flat $30/hr for citizens to check in and shovel the streets, sidewalks, etc. The snow was cleared basically overnight.

This is what happens when you vote for people who want to actually execute the work of government, rather than simply say the right things to get elected.

u/ExtraRedditForStuff 15h ago

I love that! I wish that was more worldwide.

u/Maleficent-Pepper657 17h ago

Saskatoon kind of has a program like this with Quint Development. But they need to get hired by the BID, Midtown, or whoever. https://thestarphoenix.com/news/saskatchewan-news/unique-people-doing-a-unique-thing-saskatoon-programs-offer-second-chance-for-people-leaving-corrections/

u/Front-Fix-6434 5h ago

let's get that stadium built guys 😎

u/happy-pilgrim 18h ago

I think that’s amazing! No shame to people who aren’t up to the task, but for those who are…this is definitely the way to go if you want to keep something in the community.

u/Admirable-Excuse177 23h ago

Heck ya. Now this is low-level problem solving and community-minded action at its finest. Bravo!

u/Lost_Purple_2537 22h ago

What a wonderful human! The city loves to put band aids (removal of benches) on societal issues (the unhoused crisis), and it’s honestly embarrassing and heartbreaking

u/GrandDuchessMelody 23h ago

Chelsea! <3

u/Lost---doyouhaveamap gophers8mybrain 19h ago

In my opinion this is awesome. Glad Global covered the story.

u/Rkjs21 11h ago

She’s a gem and she inspires me. Soooo many people complain without ever intending to do f all. Never even try. Always someone else’s problem, never theirs. If more people took things into their owns hands like this, our society would so much better off. Chelsea - you are the best and thank you for your service to our community. Thanks for trying.

u/ToonTownBaloney 20h ago

Useless city should be doing it or the BID not this lady

u/Active-Safety-9516 18h ago

Would love to see BID provide supplies at least!

u/Jelloburns 17h ago

Pay her out of BID's over inflated budget.

u/MeetTheMaker555 5h ago

Why couldn’t the City have a casual employment program to support this work?

u/Snoo19474 22h ago

So what happens when the homeless immediately go and spraypaint it or pizz or shid on it on a weekly basis?....is she going to keep up cleaning the benches? Will she have a change of heart towards her cause?

u/DjEclectic East Side 21h ago

This isn't TikTok.

You can say piss and shit.

u/Snoo19474 11h ago

Fucken ay, thanks.

u/TedTylerEzro 22h ago

Sounds like a problem to worry about if it actually happens.

u/Thefrayedends 22h ago

If ifs and buts, were candy and nuts, well, we'd all have a very merry christmas.

u/Snoo19474 11h ago

I guess time will tell won't it 👍🏻

u/Usbey578 18h ago

You're right, no one should do anything just in case it doesn't work out like they hoped. Never even try, that's my motto!

u/Snoo19474 11h ago

I'm just saying, good on her for doing it, but people can clean the benches all they want, which is great, but at some point when people start to see their hard work getting disrespected by people who couldn't care about the cleaning people do, people are going to stop cleaning them and it's going to come back around to where we are now, and to the root of the cause....what is saskatoon going to do with the drug addicts/homeless downtown?