City bumps up funding to emergency shelters

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This article was published 08/03/2024 (548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While many Winnipeggers are in bed around midnight, as many as 100 young people chow down on meals in the West End, which are paid for, in part, by the city.

The West End 24-Hour Safe Space, or WE24, is operated by the Spence Neighbourhood Association in the Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre. Despite its name, the doors are open from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily. The funding comes from a four-year grant of $100,000 annually.

“They helped me out by keeping me safe,” said Chantel Scott, who received assistance from WE24 and now has a job with the program. Scott said she was sleeping outside one winter night when another agency found her and got her to WE24.

“I thought no one cared about me, but I realized someone here did,” she said. “I don’t know where I’d be today if not for them.”

Spence Neighbourhood Association executive director Michele Wikkerink said they are thankful for the grants and free access to the recreation centre, but the growing needs means the safe space, for people ages 13 to 26, will soon require a different facility.

“We have 80 to 100 come for the meal, but we max out at 20 for overnight sleepers,” she said. “They sleep on mats on the floor and, because other programs the city runs during the day (at the community centre) means youth cannot come until 11 and have to leave at 7 a.m. They have a meal at midnight, go to sleep at 1 a.m. and we have to wake them up at six or 6:30 for breakfast.

“It is a stop-gap measure to help address youth in the West End, but we realize this challenge isn’t going away soon.”

It’s the same for Velma’s House, the only 24-7 safe space in the province that supports sexually exploited women and gender-diverse adults.

It has been receiving $150,000 annually for four years. While it was able to help five people at a time at its original location on Sherbrook Street, it now assists 15 women at a location on Bannatyne Avenue.

A city update report released Wednesday said WE24 was approved to receive $175,000 this year, while Velma’s House, operated by Ka Ni Kanichihk, was getting $100,000.

Two other organizations that offer around-the-clock services — St. Boniface Street Links and N’Dinawemak — received $250,000 and $275,000, respectively.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said he realizes more needs to be done, but the city wanted to get help to vulnerable people as quickly as possible.

“Ultimately, we want to get vulnerable people into more permanent housing with wraparound supports,” Gillingham said.

“We’re working with the province on that goal. But 24-7 safe spaces play a critical role in providing shelter and services on an emergency basis, which is why council pushed to increase funding for these programs in last year’s budget.”

WE24 also gives young people safe rides, referrals to housing and health services and clothing and hygiene kits.

The report indicated Velma’s House said it has “quickly outgrown the existing space at… Bannatyne Avenue and a future expansion of the space is needed to accommodate the rising numbers of individuals seeking support.”

“It is a lifeline for individuals fleeing domestic and street violence, providing a wide range of culturally safe supports and essential services, particularly in under-served communities.”

People who seek help at Velma’s House get three meals each day, snacks and coffee, emergency clothing, washrooms, showers and laundry facilities, as well as peer sobriety support, one-to-one coaching, traditional medicine and culturally safe healing opportunities.

The report said while Velma’s House isn’t a supervised consumption site, it responds to people who use street drugs with harm-reduction protocols, including opioid-overdose reversing naloxone.

“Substance use on and around the property has become an increasingly difficult challenge as people accessing the site seek a safe place to use drugs.”

Meanwhile, Scott said it means a lot to her to help youth who are now in the same shoes she was not long ago.

“I help by making sure everything is ready for them every day,” Scott said.

“We do the laundry so the bedding is ready for the sleepers. I go over and above for them because I know what it is like.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca