The Manitoba government says it will work with its municipal counterpart next month to move 700 people experiencing homelessness and living in encampments into housing.
The initiative, called Your Way Home, is part of the province’s efforts to end chronic homelessness.
On Tuesday, provincial leaders said that 300 new social housing units have been purchased and are being renovated, and wraparound support services will be provided by local non-profit organizations.
“No one should be chronically homeless in a country as rich as Canada,” Premier Wab Kinew said at a press conference, alongside Bernadette Smith, housing, addictions and homelessness minister.
“Encampments aren’t safe for the people living there and they’re not safe for the families, seniors and businesses nearby. Our plan will move people out of tents and into warm, safe, secure housing with wraparound supports to help make sure they stay housed.”
The plan is being led by Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, who has worked with community outreach and social services organizations for over a decade, and has served as CEO of Siloam Mission for the past three years.
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The province said it will work with the City of Winnipeg on a 30-day timeline to move the residents of one encampment at a time into housing, with the encampments being decommissioned and cleaned up after everyone has moved in.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said the project was an example of teamwork on the part of the civic and provincial governments.
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“This plan, the result of many months of collaboration, will help move people into safe, secure housing while making public spaces welcoming and accessible for everyone.”
Homelessness advocate Al Wiebe told 680 CJOB that Winnipeg needs far more than 300 housing units with supports but said it’s a start.
The province, he said, would also have to double the amount of supported housing it is promising if it wants to help everyone living in encampments.
Wiebe said he agrees with the housing-first approach and getting people the support they need once they’ve been housed.
“We can’t move people out of camps without having places to go,” he said.
“I really do appreciate the way this looks, I have great relationship with Tessa and I trust her judgement implicitly — she’s one of the true leaders in our community, that’s for sure.”
