Food Access Bus rolls through northeast

Elmwood

East Kildonan

North Kildonan

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2025 (247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new initiative is helping seniors in northeast Winnipeg get out of their homes and into grocery store aisles.

On Jan. 30, the Food Access Bus, organized by the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, made two round trips through northeast Winnipeg, bringing seniors to the Walmart and Real Canadian Superstores on Regent Avenue to get groceries on a chartered Winnipeg Transit bus.

“This is meeting the needs of a vulnerable population,” said Leilani Esteban Villarba, executive director of the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, following the inaugural run. “Getting on a bus with groceries and doing things independently can be very difficult.”

In total, 76 residents from eight social and private seniors housing developments in Elmwood, East Kildonan, and North Kildonan registered for the inaugural journey, which was well-received by organizers and participants alike.

“When you’re low-income and you’re vulnerable, meeting appointments can be difficult,” Esteban Villarba said. “We ended up with just over 40 (take part). Now that it is out there, we have had an overwhelming response. The need is there. The capacity to meet the need is not there.”

The initiative, which is funded by grants from Couns. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan) and Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), came about after Elmwood lost its last remaining grocery store. When Tasse’s Balkan Foods closed last summer, it left local residents in a “food desert”, with no grocery stores within walking distance.

“We got together at a (Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) Support for Seniors meeting,” Esteban Leilani recalled. “A number of us were talking about the challenges our seniors have in getting groceries. Someone had suggested we charter a Winnipeg Transit bus.”

“It was quite popular,” Schreyer said. “It was still only our first one and we’ll see how it goes.”

Schreyer was on board from the get-go, with Browaty joining him to share the cost — currently pegged at $7,000 — once he became aware of the value the program provided constituents from both wards.

“I thought it went well. It’s very efficient, because it can do two groups at once,” Schreyer said. “It worked out, from what I saw, very well. It was the first one and we’ll learn from it. They’ll work that all out.”

“I’m happy to support the program,” Browaty added.

The response, from organizers and participants, has been enthusiastic.

“Not only did they appreciate the fact that they had a whole bus to themselves, and felt comfortable and safe, it was almost like an outing for them,” Esteban Villarba said. “The fact that it was no cost to them to get there was definitely an added bonus and a determinant for why they were on that bus. This is reliable, it’s free, this is camaraderie among seniors. It’s beautiful.”

In late 2024, Kildonan-River East MLA Rachelle Schott organized a similar venture for seniors living in seniors housing along north Henderson Highway, speaking to the need for more services for seniors.

“I hope the city will see the need for a bus that has no cost, and was designed for specific things like this,” Esteban Villarba said.

“One thing the seniors were asking for was something like this for medical appointments. I don’t even know where to begin with that. But the need is there. It’s huge, and it’s getting worse. But who is going to address that?”