Supportive apartment complex for homeless residents opens doors

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This article was published 05/06/2023 (826 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Izzy Parisian had simple expectations for the place he hoped to call home, after a year spent sleeping on the streets of Winnipeg and bouncing between emergency shelters.

“Just a place to live; somewhere I can feel safe,” the 50-year-old double amputee said, soaking in the sun beaming on the patio of his new apartment at 390 Ross Ave.

“I think I found a home for good,” he said. “This is my forever home.”

Parisian is one of 14 tenants who received keys to the brand-new Ross Ellen Housing complex in the Centennial neighbourhood.

The three-storey, 47-unit supportive housing apartment began accepting tenants with a history of chronic homelessness about a month ago. It is operated by registered non-profit charity Home First Winnipeg.

Last year, Parisian said Manitoba Housing evicted him from the downtown residential block where he had been living. His troubles started after he invited friends struggling with housing to stay in his unit, he explained.

“They started dealing drugs, and when they’d leave my apartment to go somewhere, they’d start arguing with the tenants or some of the workers that worked at the apartment,” Parisian said. “That got me evicted.”

Case workers did their best to line up permanent housing, but the search dragged on, he said. Temporary accommodations were arranged but most of nights were spent at emergency shelters or on the street, Parisian said.

He had never been homeless before. “I just started sleeping on the streets — just wherever I could.”

Currently, the odds are stacked against people experiencing housing insecurity, Home First Winnipeg president John Pollard said Monday.

Even backed with significant resources — financial and otherwise — Pollard said his team struggled to re-house people living at the Winnipeg Hotel when his holding company took possession of the building in 2019. He described the condition of its units as deplorable.

“It was decrepit, full of bed bugs, literally caving in,” the business owner and philanthropist said. “Criminals had moved in (and) taken over some of the rooms, dealing drugs, running prostitution out of it.”

A lack of safe, affordable units complicated efforts despite their determination to find housing, he said. “So, you realize if you’re a sort of vulnerable person who doesn’t have all those resources behind you, what chance did you have of finding a place?”

Ross Ellen Housing is an attempt to tip the scales back in their favour by providing low-barrier shelter, food and other basic needs by following a Housing First model.

The building offers fully furnished, independent suites, and tenants enjoy meals prepared by staff in a commercial kitchen on the main floor. It also boasts communal recreation spaces, rent inclusive of utilities (including internet and laundry), and around-the-clock access to staff dedicated to supporting tenants.

Sobriety is not a condition of tenancy. Mental health and addictions counselling are available, though there is no requirement for tenants to participate.

“You need to take people in the way they are and then hope that they can do better from that better place,” Pollard said.

The Pollards contributed $4.6 million to the development. Home First Winnipeg secured a $1.1-million grant from the Manitoba and Canada governments through the National Housing Strategy agreement. Another $800,000 was provided through the bilateral agreement on Shared Health Priorities.

Ottawa also kicked in a $2.2-million forgivable loan through the National Housing Co-Investment Fund and a $100,000 grant through the national homelessness strategy. The City of Winnipeg also contributed $800,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Construction started in November 2021. Tenants are now slowly moving in.

It costs about $1,900 per resident, per month to operate the housing complex, Pollard said, and tenants put most of their social assistance and housing benefits towards rent.

The province is providing annual operating funding of about $500 per person, per month and the Pollard family will make up the difference through fundraising or other means, he said.

“What we say to people coming in here is that this is your forever home if you want it to be,” Pollard said. “We would hope that many people will be able to move out to something more independent, but it’s not a requirement, and we felt that was important.”

On Monday, Parisian officially cut the ribbon on the new development with Pollard, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, and End Homelessness Manitoba Winnipeg executive director Jason Whitford.

Squires praised the project and its alignment with the Manitoba government’s homelessness strategy. The province intends to fund up to 700 new social housing units this year and increase the services to support stable, long-term housing for people experiencing housing insecurity.

“By providing homes without preconditions, Ross Ellen Housing will create a stable base from which its residents can begin to address the issues in their lives,” Squires said.

Gillingham described 390 Ross Ave. as a “perfect model” for the city and an example for other business leaders and philanthropists, noting supportive housing reduces demand on health and emergency response services.

“Winnipeg will only reach its full potential as a place for business, for employment and for investment when we all take care, together, of Winnipeg’s most vulnerable citizens,” he said.

Parisian, meanwhile, said his expectations have been beat.

“This is where I’m going to stay,” he said. “I’m happy here.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca