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A home for the homeless

Bell Hotel transformed into affordable housing complex

By: Meghan Potkins

Posted: 07/2/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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The Bell Hotel will provide permanent housing for street people. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS )

The once-notorious Bell Hotel has reopened its doors -- but this time, the Bell tolls for the city's most vulnerable.

The iconic north Main Street property has undergone a $5-million transformation. The formerly squalid interior has been gutted and renovated to offer permanent, affordable housing for homeless people, many suffering from addiction and mental-health issues, as part of a jointly funded project by the City of Winnipeg and the provincial and federal governments.

The Bell will operate under the "housing first" approach that aims to put chronically homeless people into residences without requiring they first be "clean and sober."

The philosophy is based on several U.S. studies that have shown homeless people with addictions or mental-health issues are less likely to engage in substance abuse if they have a home, rather than enduring a disruptive and costly shuffle between emergency rooms, shelters, jails and the outdoors.

"Situated in permanent housing, an individual can begin to regain the self-confidence and control over their lives, which was lost when they became homeless," said Ross McGowan, president of downtown development agency CentreVenture that owns the property.

"It's time that we really started to address poverty and homelessness."

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Manitoba Housing Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross described the 42-unit residence as a rejuvenation of the neighbourhood.

"We can talk about how it is changing the face of Main Street, but it's also going to be changing the lives of individuals that will walk through these doors," said Irvin-Ross. "A portion of this population is battling addictions (but) they'll be welcomed here."

A committee of social agencies has already identified a few potential candidates for the residence and the first tenants are expected to begin moving into the building in mid-July.

Little of the original 1906 interior has been retained but the facilities have been designed with their future occupants in mind.

Washrooms in the lobby will be available to anyone in the neighbourhood who needs them.

A cultural room with a circular space for smudging ceremonies is also on the ground floor.

And while the 'Cold Beer Vendor' sign has been removed from above the front doors, in a sardonic wink to the building's history the back doors to the 'Men's Bar Room' have been retained -- but now they'll open onto an open patio and green space.

The property will host social services provided by Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the Main Street Project on site.

When the doors opened last week, 57-year-old Joe Towegishit stopped for a look at the modern-looking lobby.

The six-year veteran of Winnipeg's streets hopes to land a spot among the first tenants who will move in later this month.

"I'd like to live there," said the methadone addict, who spends most nights at a church on Sherbrook Street or under the Maryland Street bridge.

meghan.potkins@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 2, 2011 B2

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