West Broadway non-profit on move

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This article was published 06/08/2019 (2345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The non-profit West Broadway Community Organization (WBCO) is moving out of Wilson House to a new home at Crossways in Common, less than two years after buying the heritage building at 545 Broadway from Klinic Community Health.

The WBCO will remain the owner of Wilson House and continue renting the space to others, executive director Greg MacPherson said.

“We’re not moving out of the Wilson House because of the Wilson House — we’re moving into Crossways because of Crossways,” MacPherson said.

The WBCO, which serves as both a residents association and a neighbourhood renewal organization, currently occupies the second and third floors of Wilson House. The move to a ground-floor office space near the front of Crossways in Common at 222 Furby St. in early September will help make the group’s services more accessible to the West Broadway community, MacPherson says.

“We’re trying to create an atmosphere and a culture of openness and welcoming, and so I think this is a chance for us to go to Crossways and be part of a facility that’s there specifically to have people come and be welcomed.”

The non-profit Manitoba Harm Reduction Network will take over some of WBCO’s former space in the Wilson House.

“We’re really excited to give them a home in West Broadway,” MacPherson said.

“They were in a really small part of Nine Circles (Community Health Clinic) previously, but now they’re going to have their own offices and a larger profile. I think that’s really important for West Broadway. So it’s a win-win.”

Wilson House will continue to be home to the West Broadway BIZ and a financial services company. MacPherson said the WCBO plans to invest in some exterior refurbishment of the 1904 building in the near future.

“It’s an old, old building and it’s made of wood, so there’s a lot of shingles missing and just — squirrels attack buildings like that regularly. So we’ve got to do a little bit of work to the exterior to make it strong for the coming decade.”

Crossways in Common is currently home to five groups: Young United Church, Hope Mennonite Church, West Broadway Community Ministry, a daycare and the Artemis Housing Co-op. Tim Higgins, who sits on the boards of both Crossways in Common and Young United Church, said having the WBCO in the building will benefit all those tenants by bringing professional expertise in areas such as crafting top-notch grant applications and assisting people in distress.

“It seems to us that Crossways, the building, is the natural place to have a real community centre, a fairly modern building with space to allow us to do all kinds of things that perhaps many of us can’t in the smaller spaces,” Higgins said.

Social agencies in the West Broadway area are trying to cope with rapid change in the community, the WBCO’s MacPherson said.

“There’s people who are sleeping rough in our neighbourhood and using drugs that are pretty dangerous, and so I think we’re more equipped to be useful in a situation like that. So we can help come in and stabilize and support one another, so it’s a great base for us in that way, and I think that us being there will be great for the organizations that are present.”

The WBCO bought Wilson House from Klinic Community Health in late 2017 for an undisclosed sum. When WBCO was founded in 1997, MacPherson said, the residents association was focused on trying to preserve historic community buildings like the heritage home.

“(Not) not only do we retain Wilson House as an asset to our neighbourhood, and have control over its future… but we also get to contribute to the well-being of Crossways, all in one fell swoop,” MacPherson said. “We’re really, really proud of this move, and we think it’s going to work out really well for us and for our neighbourhood.”

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

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