MMF opens urgent housing solutions centre

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This article was published 22/03/2022 (1491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Métis Federation has opened the doors to its new community access point on Selkirk Avenue.

“The fact is that there is a need here, there is a need in this community, there is a need in the Métis Nation,” Will Goodon, MMF minister of housing and property management, said Tuesday morning at the grand opening of the hub to help people experiencing homelessness find immediate support,

“The streets don’t care if you’re Métis, First Nations, non-Indigenous, where you come from, the streets are not always nice to our people. A lot of times, though, Métis citizens get left behind, they fall through the cracks. And that’s what we’re doing here, to make sure we catch those people that aren’t getting those services.”

The 550 Selkirk Ave. hub will serve as a space where both Métis Winnipeggers and the general public who need urgent housing solutions can come to and find support through its rapid services team.

This can mean helping the person get to a shelter, find transitional housing, connect them with an elder in residence, provide counseling, crisis prevention or a chance to take part in programming that will be held by the MMF.

“We also have wrap-around (services) within the MMF,” Goodon told the Free Press. “We’ve got our employment and training where we can assist with helping them write a resumé, helping them look for work when it’s appropriate for them to do so. We’re working on mental health supports in our own governance structure.”

The federation is opening a 20-unit transitional housing space at 670 Main St. in January 2023, which Goodon said would be used in tandem with the Selkirk Avenue location.

The service is funded in part through the federal rapid housing initiative program. The goal is to use this model and recreate it in northern and remote communities around Manitoba, MMF program manager Kerri Scott said.

“The end game is to have access points throughout Manitoba — Flin Flon, The Pas, Thompson. They need these smaller offices like this up North,” he said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca