Neighbourhood in crisis Outreach centre at River and Osborne rife with drug use, needles, frightening behaviour, but daycare, community members say safety concerns fall on deaf ears By: Scott Billeck Posted: 5:43 PM CDT Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

Children at an Osborne Village daycare are routinely exposed to discarded needles, human feces and drug use, prompting growing safety concerns from parents, residents and business owners.

The concerns centre on Augustine Centre at River Avenue and Osborne Street, where SPLASH Child Care shares the building with Oak Table, a drop-in operated by 1JustCity that provides meals, wellness and addiction supports, along with programs that help people build skills, and secure housing and employment.

The daycare looks after 132 children, from just a few months old to age 12.

Lesley Massey, executive director of the daycare, said parents fear for their children’s safety.

“It is becoming more challenging in many areas of Winnipeg because of the lack of housing, the increasing drug crisis and the reality that many vulnerable people have nowhere to go,” she said.

Massey questioned why tents have been allowed to remain near the property despite city rules that prohibit encampments within 50 metres of child-care facilities.

She said SPLASH has a responsibility to keep children safe and that encampments, discarded needles and public drug use have no place near playgrounds or child-care centres.

People who live near the church say they’ve found used needles, drug paraphernalia and human waste near the property, sometimes within arm’s reach of the daycare’s fenced playgrounds.

Recent videos shared with the Free Press show children being led past Oak Table clients, including one person who was behaving erratically. Other videos show verbal altercations between clients and people urinating against the church walls.

A nearby resident, who did not want to be identified, said she has seen people injecting drugs on the church steps on Pulford Street, immediately beside the daycare’s fenced outdoor play area.

She said the exterminator who regularly services her building was chased by a knife-wielding man who threatened to kill him.

“It’s regular TV out here,” she said.

Mridul Vohra, owner of Fresh Slice Pizza at River and Osborne, believes he loses hundreds of dollars a day in business because of the rampant public drug use. He’s also had several employees resign.

“I started this business almost two years ago, and this is the first time I’ve tried contacting the church because the problem is just getting worse,” he said, adding people loitering around the church have followed his employees as they take out the trash. “I’ve tolerated it for long enough.”

Augustine Centre declined comment to the Free Press about its neighbours’ safety concerns.

In an email statement sent to Vohra on Wednesday, the church said it recognizes the seriousness of the safety concerns and agrees the situation is unacceptable.

While noting it does not operate Oak Table or 1JustCity’s programs, the church said it is pushing both organizations to improve safety and maintain the property while advocating for compassionate responses to addiction, homelessness and poverty.

Vohra said he has contacted his local elected officials, the Winnipeg police chief, 1JustCity and others, but has rarely received a response and there’s been little improvement.

“What do they want me to do? Bankrupt my business and become homeless myself?” he said.

Across the street on River Avenue, residents of Villa Cabrini, a 55-plus apartment complex, offered mixed views on Oak Table’s presence.

“It’s a good thing what they’re doing there,” said one resident. “That’s what churches are supposed to do. These are people who are struggling.”

“I’ve tolerated it for long enough.”

But another resident, who said he’s lived in the building for more than 10 years, believes conditions have steadily declined.

“It’s a blight against the neighbourhood,” he said. “People screaming, fighting. It’s a little bit nauseating. If that wasn’t there, there would be none of this going on.”

Other neighbours who spoke with the Free Press said they worry their concerns are being dismissed or interpreted as a lack of compassion.

Some said there has been an inference that raising concerns means they are not being “good neighbours.”

Craig Wynands, executive director of 1JustCity, said the organization takes those concerns seriously and is working to improve relationships with businesses and residents.

“We want to be part of the solution,” he said, adding the organization is reviewing immediate safety measures around the property and will invite community, government, health, outreach and other groups to meet with them.

“Public substance use, disruptive behaviour and people having to sleep outdoors are signs of a deep toxic-drug and housing crisis — not challenges that any one organization or neighbourhood can solve alone,” Wynands said. “Our goal is shared: to keep children, neighbours, staff and guests safe while responding to people in crisis with dignity, accountability and compassion.”

“That’s what churches are supposed to do. These are people who are struggling.”

Wynands said it’s important to remember the vast majority of people who access Oak Table do so peacefully and respectfully. Those who choose to use drugs on the property are asked to leave and are temporarily banned, typically for three days.

“We do not tolerate drug use,” he said. “We understand drug use; we simply do not allow it on site or the Augustine property for the obvious safety measures.”

He added that 1JustCity staff walk around the property to collect drug paraphernalia each day.

Mike Green, who has lived in the neighbourhood for seven years, said he recognizes Oak Table provides an “incredibly valuable” service, but believes conditions around the site have deteriorated.

Green said he recently walked around the property with Oak Table site lead Thomas van der Krogt to discuss neighbourhood concerns.

“There was a noticeable increase in people accessing Oak Table and using the supplies they received there to smoke directly outside, even hours after Oak Table staff had left and couldn’t intervene,” Green said. “They were also showing up earlier and I noticed the SPLASH kids having to walk past people who were in the midst of episodes.”

“I wrote an email to every concerned party I could think of and suggested changing the morning protocol to create distance between the two groups. If you go to a Bomber game, they have the family zone as far away from the rum hut as possible — it’s just common sense.”

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Green said he received a note of appreciation from SPLASH, boiler plate responses about the overall crisis of drugs and homelessness from Oak Table management, and silence from elected officials.

“As a resident, it’s very disheartening, I don’t know what I’m meant to conclude aside from these organizations don’t talk to each other and the politicians can’t be bothered to care,” he said.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, who represents Osborne Village, said more immediate action is needed on public safety.

“It can’t end with a council motion. I am inviting community and community organizations to discuss solutions. I am increasingly concerned that governments are setting organizations up for failure.”

Oak Table has operated out of Augustine Centre since 1981. The building, owned by the United Church of Canada, was renamed Augustine Centre in 2018 and leases space to the church congregation, SPLASH Child Care Inc. and Oak Table.

Recently, the province provided a $500,000 grant to 1JustCity after approaching the organization about expanding its hours and community outreach. The funding was part of a broader $6.8-million package for outreach organizations in Osborne Village and West Broadway.

That funding has not yet been received, but Wynands said he expects confirmation in the next few weeks.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.