North End construction project seeks safe housing, youth skills

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This article was published 27/03/2023 (940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A ministry that serves people in the North End is appealing for donations so it can build affordable housing — and provide job training for at-risk youth at the same time.

Inner City Youth Alive, a church-based organization located on Aberdeen Avenue, is seeking to turn a derelict property on Magnus Avenue into a duplex for two Indigenous families.

It has raised half of the $617,000 needed to complete the project (www.icya.ca).

“We want to try to meet the need for good, safe housing in the North End,” ICYA general manager Andrew Braun said, adding the group hopes to break ground on the project in a couple of months.

There is a strong need for good, safe housing in the area, he said, noting 40 per cent of families in the North End live below the poverty line.

For many, rent is too expensive. As a result, they share housing.

“In order to keep a roof over their heads, 10 to 12 people are moving into homes made for four to six,” he said.

“These living situations can become dangerous, especially if one of the residents is struggling with addiction or involved with a gang.”

ICYA got the empty lot from the City of Winnipeg for $40,000. City guidelines requires it to build on the land within two years or lose it.

Construction will be done by Step Up, a social enterprise started by ICYA in 2021 that hires local youth to do construction and repair projects, providing skills and employment training at the same time.

Many of the projects Step Up is currently working on are for local homeowners and landlords in the North End, Braun said.

“They are done with the same professional quality you can expect from other businesses, as we have a team of leaders with a combined 20-plus years of construction experience.”

For Anthony Ho, who directs social enterprise efforts at ICYA, the duplex project is more than a way to provide better housing — it change a life trajectory.

“It’s not just a job, but a chance to transform their lives,” he said, adding the organization mentors and offers role models for youth, some of whom were involved in gangs.

One of those former gang members is Terrence Melquist, 27. Now married and a father of two, he is an assistant to the director of Step Up.

“I enjoy teaching the skills I have learned,” Melquist said of his two years with Step Up, adding the things he teaches includes use of power and hand tools.

It’s also about modelling good work behaviour, such as “coming in each day on time and putting in your full effort.”

The high school dropout gets a special lift from working in and helping the neighbourhood he grew up in. “Now, I have a job and live a normal life,” he said.

Another Step Up participant is Charlie Chamakese, 24.

“It feels really good to have a job and be learning new skills,” said the father of two. “I would like to start my own company one day.”

For Ho, Chamakese and Melquist are “representative of how lives can change through work, how they can become strong family men. They can hold their heads high.”

Money raised for the project will be used for materials and to pay the salaries of at least 10 youth who will build the house.

When the duplex is built, it will be occupied by two low-income families who will pay no more than 30 per cent of their income, Braun said.

“It’s a win-win for families trapped in unsafe living conditions and for young people who will be given future-brightening job that will not only pay them a living wage but also keep them out of gangs and out of jail.”

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