Better Winnipeg: Helping Winnipeg homeless put their best foot forward

The Saul Sair Health Centre at Siloam Mission offers head-to-toe care to those who are experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg.

The foot clinic sees 15 to 20 clients a day, providing a service that is critical for people who spend most of their days on the street.

“They don’t have the means to maybe wash their feet every day or their body every day. They don’t have the luxury of changing their socks every day,” says Angelika Fletcher, health centre manager.

“They are walking everywhere they are going. They are on their feet all the time. They are in the elements all the time.”

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“If I go out and my feet get wet, I go home and I take my socks off and put them in warm water and I put a fresh pair of socks on. Our clients don’t have that, so they might have wet socks on for the better part of the day and that damages the skin,” Fletcher says.

Foot care has been offered at the centre for over seven years, and it has become something of an essential service.

“We see foot ulcers, we see all the way to amputations, unfortunately. So if we can do preventative medicine to prevent those bad outcomes, that is what our focus is on.”

Cynthia Davidson, a foot care nurse at the clinic, says the services they provide go beyond care or comfort. She volunteers two to three times a week and says people ask her all the time how she can do the work she does.

“It never bothers me who comes through, how bad their feet are. They are always somebody’s somebody, and if I can get them back out walking when they’re comfortable, that’s all I want to do.”

From basic foot care tips, to clipping toe nails, filing calluses and treating foot sores, Davidson knows the importance of her work.

“They’re very interested in taking care of their feet — some of them walk for 20 kilometres in a day.”

It’s a reality that makes a pair of new socks a small but incredibly valuable item.

The Knickers & Kickers campaign collects much-needed donations of new socks each fall in support of Siloam Mission, sharing some warmth with people experiencing homelessness as temperatures begin to drop.

“It’s nice to see a smile like that on somebody’s face and you give them so little and it means so much to them.”

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Regardless of the season, the elements are harsh for anyone living on the street.

For more information on the health care centre, Siloam Mission or Knickers & Kickers, click on the links.