The Knights of Hope van helps those in need get around town. (Door of Hope/Facebook)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Knights of Hope

Knights of Hope service being met with positive community response

Aug 12, 2024 | 4:47 PM

A service in Meadow Lake is on a chivalrous mission to help those with mobility issues get their chores done easier.

The Knights of Hope is part of the Meadow Lake Outreach Ministries and according to Executive Director Delton Sylvain, the idea to develop the transportation service began last year.

“The shelter was open, and we have some individuals living in tents on the other side of town,” he said.

Due to clients’ health issues, some were facing complications in getting around and they saw a need they could fill in the community.

“Having this service, we believed it was going to be very good for Meadow Lake.”

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The van officially started transporting both clients and members of the public especially those with disabilities, pregnant women and the elderly earlier this year.

“They were so happy about it,” Sylvain said of the response.

The service itself runs much in the same way a transit bus does. Clients or community members will wait along the route (Doors of Hope, Flying Dust Gas Station, Giant Tiger, Co-op Gas, Fas Gas, No Frills, Alliance Church, Northwest Health Facility-Meadow Lake Hospital and Meadow Lake Civic Centre) and the mini-van collects them – although they only have room for five passengers at a time.

“When the clients are in the van, they do not just get a ride, they have nutritional snacks, they have water, so we try to foster an environment where they feel safe and treated with dignity,” said the executive director.

Sylvain said for those who have been using the service, it has been a respectful relationship between the clients and the workers.

“There is no drugs, there is no trading of drugs in the vehicle, which is amazing and I’m so thankful for all the community members that have been using the services,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ministries are looking to upgrade their van to a larger model along with at least two more intake workers and are currently looking into funding opportunities.

The van transit runs on Tuesday through Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. and on the weekends from 8 a.m. to noon and it’s working.

“Based on the last report that I had from one of the intake workers…last week, we had 36 people,” he said.

“That’s one week.”

For more information, visit the Door of Hope on Facebook.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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