Security assessment underway for Powers Street public housing block home-care workers won’t visit

A public housing block no longer being serviced by home care due to safety concerns is undergoing a security assessment.

On Wednesday, a collective of government and non-profit representatives met with Dave Dalal, a security expert, over the future of 145 Powers St.

Residents needing home care have been visiting the Indigenous Family Centre across the street for appointments since mid-March. Violent crime, drug use and possible gang activity have been concerns.

More security “enhancements” — including controlled entrance and physical space changes — are expected in the coming weeks, a provincial government spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Two security guards per shift and a locked-door policy are already in place. Residents enter the 12-storey tower via a key access fob or card.

The top priority is re-establishing home care services as soon as possible for the three residents who require it, the government spokesperson said.

“The work is ongoing,” they wrote. “We will continue working with our various partners, so the residents and workers at 145 Powers feel safe and supported.”

Senior officials from the province’s Housing and Justice departments met with representatives from N’Dinawemak, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, the Winnipeg Housing and Rehabilitation Corp. and Dalal, a retired Winnipeg Police Service member.

The WRHA provides home-care services to the North End residence. It’s owned by Manitoba Housing and managed by the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp., a non-profit.

Some tenants joined the approximately 50 people living in the building via the province’s Your Way Home strategy to end chronic homelessness.

“We will continue working with our various partners, so the residents and workers at 145 Powers feel safe and supported.”

On Monday, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told the Free Press Manitoba Housing had stopped “tenanting” at 145 Powers in January following concerns of safety issues.

“We need to make sure that we have wraparound services for these people,” MLA Jeff Bereza, the Tory critic for housing, addictions and homelessness, said Wednesday.

“We cannot just keep throwing people into situations where it is not fair to them, not fair to the workers.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 204 represents about 2,500 home-care workers in Winnipeg. Margaret Schroeder, the union’s president, said increased security is something CUPE supports.

“We want our members to be safe while delivering care,” Schroeder wrote in a text message. “And we know that the needs of the clients are best met in their homes, where they have everything they need close at hand.”

Other buildings, similarly, need solutions to safety concerns, Schroeder said.

Bereza said media coverage has likely pushed the province to expedite the return of home-care service at 145 Powers.

He mentioned safety concerns in his constituency of Portage la Prairie and “all over Manitoba.”

Tenants at 145 Powers may be accepted through applications, social services referrals or Your Way Home after living in encampments, the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp.’s executive director told the Free Press.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com