Former factory to become Indigenous food hub

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This article was published 21/02/2025 (226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former factory on Notre Dame Avenue is being transformed into an Indigenous-led, grocery store-style food bank and resource hub.

The Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and Harvest Manitoba expect to open the $14-million centre by 2026.

“A lot of families, since the pandemic, have experienced a lot of disconnect, a lot of isolation. This is really about creating spaces where families can come and connect with one another, connect to other resources and really start building that path out of poverty,” Ma Mawi executive director Tammy Christensen said at Friday’s announcement.

The 30,000-square-foot site between Kate and Lydia streets, once home to Kelsey Sportswear Ltd., was recently given the Cree/Ojibwa name Asihcikan, which means “to put out an offering.”

The grocery store model gives clients an opportunity to select the items they need instead of taking a pre-determined food hamper to better meet the needs of an entire family.

The site will have a community drop-in space and office space for cultural programs, resources and laundry services.

During the pandemic, Ma Mawi packed bagged lunches for those in need. Soon after, it expanded its home nutrition program to provide food hampers to the Indigenous community.

“When the pandemic started winding down, we realized that that wasn’t going to go away, that need was going to continue, especially with the skyrocketing prices of groceries,” Christensen said.

In 2022, she and Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba, brainstormed about how best to tackle food insecurity among the Indigenous population. Barletta said one-third of Harvest users are Indigenous.

The organization bought the properties at 563 and 567 Notre Dame in late 2022, and work began to retrofit them.

Barletta said there’s a need for more food banks due to the high cost of groceries.

In its annual report, Harvest said its 350 agencies across the province served more than 50,000 people monthly, which is a 150 per cent increase from pre-pandemic levels.

The CEO said some users may not feel comfortable grocery shopping in an urban setting or know what types of food to access so the centre will include a nutrition component.

“There’s going to be a lot to it, but dignity and making sure people get the food they need and their families will use is all a critical part of the project,” Barletta said.

Harvest had been searching for an Indigenous partner.

“To us, there was no better partner than Ma Mawi,” Barletta said. “This facility today and this partnership is really a catalyst of that and a real formation of that partnership and how we’re going to work together in the years ahead.”

The new space will serve potentially thousands of families in the inner city, Barletta said.

Funding for the project comes from the federal and provincial governments, the Winnipeg Foundation, United Way Winnipeg and Cargill.

Harvest has moved into the main floor of the building, where it operates the Meals2Go program that provides meal kits to 5,000 students every week during the school year.

Winnipeg Liberal MP Dan Vandal said programs to address food insecurity could be at risk if the Conservative party forms government.

“Many other programs that benefit families, real people, that are at risk,” he told reporters at the announcement.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca