Latest news with #BernadetteSmith
Winnipeg Free Press
28-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
New homeless camps off the table, Manitoba government tells Main Street Project
The province has put Main Street Project on notice after agency workers were captured on video helping set up a homeless encampment in Point Douglas last week where one had recently been cleared. Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith has directed MSP — one of the key players in the province's Your Way Home strategy to end homelessness — and other service delivery organizations not to move people into encampments. 'I have talked to them about this situation,' Smith said in an interview with the Free Press Monday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Minister of housing, addictions and homelessness Bernadette Smith has directed the Main Street Project and other service delivery organizations not to move people into encampments. 'Going forward, it's from encampment to housing. The Your Way Home strategy outlines that pretty clearly,' she said. The stated goal of Your Way Home, the two-year $20-million initiative announced by Premier Wab Kinew in January is moving people living outside into appropriate housing with needed supports, one camp at a time. The sites are to be cleaned up afterward, with city crews monitoring to ensure they're not reoccupied. 'If there are situations where we don't have housing available and there is an unsafe condition and there's unique circumstances, then they are to get in touch with us and we will deal with those, case by case,' Smith said. 'All of the service delivery organizations have known that that is the strategy and, moving forward, that is what everyone needs to follow.' A Point Douglas resident captured video last Tuesday of a Main Street Project outreach van dropping off two individuals, along with a tent, tarp, suitcases and other supplies. Two agency workers helped drag the equipment down to the riverbank and assisted in setting up the shelter. The resident, Howard Warren, informed the Point Douglas Residents Committee, which composed a letter raising several neighbourhood concerns that was sent to MSP and copied to Kinew, Mayor Scott Gillingham, the Progressive Conservative housing critic, End Homelessness Winnipeg, the United Way and the Winnipeg Foundation. Smith said both individuals in the encampment were moved into housing over the weekend. 'We are all on the same page that we need to get people into housing.'–Minister Bernadette Smith MSP — a non-profit health organization largely funded with public money via various government programs and grants — has declined repeated Free Press requests for comment since the letter was revealed last Thursday; a promised statement Monday afternoon did not materialize. Smith said she spoke to Gillingham Monday, and that he is 'on board' with her directive to MSP executives. 'We are all on the same page that we need to get people into housing,' she said. 'If housing isn't available, and there are unique circumstances, we will deal with them as they arise.' Earlier in the day at an unrelated event, Gillingham mentioned that End Homelessness Winnipeg — an Indigenous housing advocate organization responsible for distributing federal program funds — plans to convene a meeting of representatives from homelessness agencies, the province and city to discuss the Point Douglas Residents Committee's concerns. The matter was raised during question period in the Manitoba legislature Monday by Morden-Winkler MLA Carrie Hiebert, the Tories' housing, addictions and homelessness critic, who wanted to know whether Smith could ensure no taxpayer dollars would be used to help set up new encampments. Smith said rather than address the growing number of homeless people, the former PC government sold off social housing units, making matters worse. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. 'I've talked to some of those folks that are in encampments that were living in those units that are now getting wraparound supports,' she said afterward. 'They're on a path to whatever it is that they want to succeed at in their life, whether it's reunification with their families or getting into a program so they can build their skills and get into the workforce or stable housing.' SCOTT BILLECK / FREE PRESS 'These are Manitobans that deserve to live in dignified housing. Manitobans were pretty clear they didn't want to see folks living in encampments, bus shelters, under bridges. The previous government left people in those situations. 'We're going to continue to support and get housing online and get people out of encampments with the supports they need.' — With files from Joyanne Pursaga Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol 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. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
26-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
New homelessness camps off the table, province tells Main Street Project
The province has put Main Street Project on notice after agency workers were captured on video helping set up a homeless encampment in Point Douglas last week where one had recently been cleared. Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith has directed MSP — one of the key players in the province's Your Way Home strategy to end homelessness — and other service delivery organizations not to move people into encampments. 'I have talked to them about this situation,' Smith said in an interview with the Free Press Monday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Minister of housing, addictions and homelessness Bernadette Smith has directed the Main Street Project and other service delivery organizations not to move people into encampments. 'Going forward, it's from encampment to housing. The Your Way Home strategy outlines that pretty clearly,' she said. The stated goal of Your Way Home, the two-year $20-million initiative announced by Premier Wab Kinew in January is moving people living outside into appropriate housing with needed supports, one camp at a time. The sites are to be cleaned up afterward, with city crews monitoring to ensure they're not reoccupied. 'If there are situations where we don't have housing available and there is an unsafe condition and there's unique circumstances, then they are to get in touch with us and we will deal with those, case by case,' Smith said. 'All of the service delivery organizations have known that that is the strategy and, moving forward, that is what everyone needs to follow.' A Point Douglas resident captured video last Tuesday of a Main Street Project outreach van dropping off an individual, along with a tent, tarp, suitcases and other supplies. Two agency workers helped drag the equipment down to the riverbank and assisted in setting up the shelter. The resident, Howard Warren, informed the Point Douglas Residents Committee, which composed a letter raising several neighbourhood concerns that was sent to MSP and copied to Kinew, Mayor Scott Gillingham, the Progressive Conservative housing critic, End Homelessness Winnipeg, the United Way and the Winnipeg Foundation. MSP — a non-profit health organization largely funded with public money via various government programs and grants — has declined repeated Free Press requests for comment since the letter was revealed last Thursday; a promised statement Monday afternoon did not materialize. 'We are all on the same page that we need to get people into housing.'–Minister Bernadette Smith Smith said she spoke to Gillingham Monday, and that he is 'on board' with her directive to MSP executives. 'We are all on the same page that we need to get people into housing,' she said. 'If housing isn't available, and there are unique circumstances, we will deal with them as they arise.' Earlier in the day at an unrelated event, Gillingham mentioned that End Homelessness Winnipeg — an Indigenous housing advocate organization responsible for distributing federal program funds — plans to convene a meeting of representatives from homelessness agencies, the province and city to discuss the Point Douglas Residents Committee's concerns. The matter was raised during question period in the Manitoba legislature Monday by Morden-Winkler MLA Carrie Hiebert, the Tories' housing, addictions and homelessness critic, who wanted to know whether Smith could ensure no taxpayer dollars would be used to help set up new encampments. Smith said rather than address the growing number of homeless people, the former PC government sold off social housing units, making matters worse. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. 'I've talked to some of those folks that are in encampments that were living in those units that are now getting wraparound supports,' she said afterward. 'They're on a path to whatever it is that they want to succeed at in their life, whether it's reunification with their families or getting into a program so they can build their skills and get into the workforce or stable housing.' 'These are Manitobans that deserve to live in dignified housing. Manitobans were pretty clear they didn't want to see folks living in encampments, bus shelters, under bridges. The previous government left people in those situations. SCOTT BILLECK / FREE PRESS 'We're going to continue to support and get housing online and get people out of encampments with the supports they need.' — With files from Joyanne Pursaga Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol 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. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Encampment problem not a simple fix
Opinion It just goes to show that planning and good intentions don't always lead to an easy fix. Residents along parts of the Red River have been disappointed to see the return of homeless encampments, which had previously been cleared out as part of a provincial effort to shut down the camps and find appropriate housing for their residents. The province's Your Way Home plan has shown some progress — a spokesperson for Housing Minister Bernadette Smith has said the strategy has found housing and supports for 30 people who had previously been living in 16 encampments. Better still, it seems those people have remained in the housing found for them, rather than winding up back in the camps. CAROL SANDERS / FREE PRESS Encampment cleared on Waterfront Drive is being re-inhabited. However, it may be that the province's optimism about the strategy, and Winnipeggers' expectations for it, have been a little too intense. The issue of homeless encampments — and the broader problem of homelessness — will not be solved quickly or tidily. Homelessness is the result of an array of socio-economic problems, and as city spokesperson Kalen Qually told the Free Press, dealing with the camps is 'like that game of whack-a-mole' — the camps and their populations move relatively easily from place to place, so removing a camp from one site does little to prevent it springing up somewhere else. The plan states that the city, province and other groups will collaborate 'to regularly monitor the site to prevent further encampments from being established,' but it's difficult to see how that can be achieved without regular, active patrolling in the area. And the thought of such patrols taking place seems unappetizing as well — it's hard to enjoy the green space near your house when it has the appearance of being under guard or surveillance. Further, while so far it looks like people are remaining in the housing found for them, the program is unlikely to flawlessly help every single person it attempts to aid. Incidents of people losing or leaving their housing and winding up back on the street is something for which the province, the city, and homeless advocacy and assistance groups will have to be prepared. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. According to End Homelessness Winnipeg's 2022 Street Census (the most recent for which data is available), there were 1,256 people experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg — that includes completely unsheltered people, those with provisional or emergency accomodations, and those in unknown locations. That's a lot of people to find housing for, especially considering Winnipeg's vacancy rate — as of December last year — was only 1.7 per cent. The supports to which these individuals are being directed will need to be bolstered by both local and provincial governments if they are to have a fair chance of helping everybody. And more housing units will need to come online as well, something Smiths' spokesperson also acknowledged. Another consideration is that the homeless population is not static; without proper services, programs and supports to keep others from becoming homeless, we will end up helping current members of that marginalized community only to be faced with others down the line. The province's goals with Your Way Home appear to have been too ambitious. But that is not to say the program is a failure; things are moving more slowly than promised — which is fair cause for frustration, as ever when a government doesn't follow through on its word. But things are moving forward. People are getting help. And when it comes to getting people out of a bad situation and into a safer, more supportive environment, every person helped should be taken as a win.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Province announces $6.4M for 67 units — some already in use — as part of homeless plan
Manitobans have begun settling into 67 new social housing units announced Friday as part of the provincial government's homelessness strategy. The Manitoba government is spending $6.4 million on the units, which were established in collaboration with Main Street Project, Siloam Mission and Sunshine House, as part of the Your Way Home plan, Premier Wab Kinew's strategy to end chronic homelessness within two terms. The units — some of which are ready now, others will be move-in ready over the next few months — are an effort to provide as much housing as possible as the weather warms and encampments become more prevalent around the city, said Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the units are an effort to provide as much housing as possible as the weather warms. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the units are an effort to provide as much housing as possible as the weather warms. 'We know that encampments pop up every year around this time. This is nothing new,' Smith said Friday morning. 'There's always lots of new encampments that pop up. This is why we're ramping up housing, we're trying to get as much housing online as possible, to get as many people into housing as possible. We know that there's a great need.' The units are spread across three buildings, whose locations are not being made public to keep people safe, a provincial spokesperson said. People using substances will be able to use while living in the units and will be offered on-site supports, including case managers and support workers. The funding includes supportive housing through Sunshine House for homeless LGBTTQ+ people. Those 14 units have already been filled with 16 people previously living in encampments, said Levi Foy, Sunshine House's executive director. 'Our housing team works with (residents) to allow them to envision and define what stability can look like for them,' Foy said. 'This can include getting residents connected with culture, connected with mental health services as well as addiction and treatment services.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Levi Foy, Sunshine House's executive director, said 14 units have already been filled with 16 people previously living in encampments. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Levi Foy, Sunshine House's executive director, said 14 units have already been filled with 16 people previously living in encampments. There have been 33 people moved from 17 encampments across the city into housing since the launch of the Your Way Home plan, with 28 being in the units announced Friday. None have returned to encampments, Smith said. Al Wiebe, a longtime homelessness advocate, said he was skeptical about the province's timeline to end chronic homelessness within eight years. 'It's not going to happen in anybody's lifetime, never mind anybody's term … because for every person that you house off the street, 1.5 come back on,' he said. Wiebe, who himself was previously homeless, said the plan did have merit in connecting Manitoba's support systems and helping them work in sync. He said one of his first jobs after finding housing was as a case manager, and it at times took seven or eight attempts to get a person into housing before they stayed. 'Everybody's pulling together in same direction, and that's a good thing. I worry about capacity to support them all. That's my biggest concern, because people do not stay in housing without supports. It's very hard,' he said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Al Wiebe, a longtime homelessness advocate, said the plan has merit, but was skeptical about the province's timeline to end chronic homelessness within eight years but MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Al Wiebe, a longtime homelessness advocate, said the plan has merit, but was skeptical about the province's timeline to end chronic homelessness within eight years but Many of the tents that once lined Waterfront Drive along the river are gone, with the dirt under them worked up and garbage removed. A few tents, and people, remain. One told the Free Press he was there when people were being offered housing and the city was cleaning the grounds, but he had been let down before and was skeptical of the offer. 'I don't even bother anymore,' the man, who asked his name not be published, said. He had been living further down Waterfront Drive in another encampment that he said hasn't been cleared, but moved when he realized new space had opened up. He has been living on the streets in Winnipeg for about three years and works odd jobs to get by. 'It's my choice to live out here, and it's my choice to work,' he said. A woman at the encampment said she had previously lived by the river and moved elsewhere during the winter. She returned to find the area cleared out. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Elizabeth ended up in Winnipeg when she was discharged after a hospital stay with nowhere to go about a year ago. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Elizabeth ended up in Winnipeg when she was discharged after a hospital stay with nowhere to go about a year ago. Elizabeth, 26, said she'd gladly accept housing if it was offered to her, and would prefer it over shelter or street living. 'I'd feel safer in a home instead of in a building,' she said. Originally from Garden Hill First Nation, she ended up in Winnipeg when she was discharged after a hospital stay with nowhere to go about a year ago. She's working on getting sober and seeing her children again. 'Maybe I'll apply for a house,' she said. The provincial government estimates there are around 700 Manitobans living in encampments. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS An apartment is almost ready for a client once the paint has dried. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS An apartment is almost ready for a client once the paint has dried. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak 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. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
09-05-2025
- General
- CBC
67 more housing units opening in Winnipeg to help people leave homeless encampments
Manitoba has purchased 67 more social housing units to offer to people living in homeless encampments in Winnipeg, as part of the Your Way Home strategy launched earlier this year. "Nobody should have to call a tent a home when we live in such a rich country," Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said at Friday's announcement. The additional 67 units — spread across three locations — were purchased for $6.4 million and will be transformed and filled with tenants in collaboration with Main Street Project, Siloam Mission and Sunshine House, Smith said. They will include on-site supports for skill building and preparation for long-term housing. Siloam Mission and Main Street Project are working together on a 41-unit building, while Sunshine House is in charge of a 14-unit building. The third site was an expansion by 12 units of a building already being used as part of the province's homelessness strategy. The locations are not being revealed, in order to protect the privacy of the individuals who will live there, Premier Wab Kinew told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Friday morning. Most, but not all, are in the downtown area. "We see homelessness is not just a downtown problem anymore, so we're trying to be flexible with the areas," Kinew said. Kinew has described the Your Way Home strategy as being like a ladder that moves people up to independence. The bottom rung is basic shelter, while the top is the private rental market, with various levels of supportive housing in between. "Many of these folks living in encampments have complex mental health and addictions needs, and having wraparound supports will ensure that they are successful in their journey," Smith said. 33 people rehoused so far: Kinew Since the first person was moved from a tent into housing at the end of February, a total of 33 people have been rehoused from 17 different encampments, Kinew said Friday morning. "Everyone that we have housed so far is still housed. Nobody has moved back into a tent since we've started this," he said. The additional units announced Friday mean that total will help toward the homelessness strategy's target of finding housing for all encampment residents within eight years, but there's still a long way to go, Kinew said. "We're talking about a group of about 700 Manitobans that we're trying to get out of tents and into housing. We're starting to make progress, [but] it's going to take continued effort to see the results we want," he said. "The biggest thing is the lack of housing units. Even if you're buying an existing housing unit, it can take a year or two to do the necessary renovations and to open that up," Kinew said. Of the 33 people now rehoused, 28 are in units announced on Friday. The 12 units that were part of the expansion project are filled, while Sunshine House's 14 units are home to 16 tenants, said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, senior adviser to Kinew on homelessness. The 41 units that will be operated by Siloam Mission and Main Street Project have yet to open. That will happen in stages over the next couple of months, Blaikie Whitecloud said. "I wish we could just snap our fingers and have the housing units that we needed, and then it would just be a matter of connecting people with services," said Kinew. "But we're trying to co-ordinate building the new units, taking care of issues on the street, and then getting people the services — mental health and addictions and others — that they need." He underscored the multiple levels involved in making the strategy work, from those in the non-profit sector and municipal and provincial governments to Indigenous organizations and "the folks in encampments who are actually asking us, 'When is it my turn? When am I going to get moved out of a tent?'" Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project, said that approach is necessary, building on the experience of organizations that understand the challenges of chronically homeless people and how to support them. "The need to build housing is not just the physical buildings, it's also how you build inside them — spaces that are full of care and love and community that people seek in their daily life. That's a big part of this, beyond just bringing more units on line," he said. "In every sense of the way it's a true partnership." As part of their project, Siloam Mission will be in charge of renovating and providing maintenance services, while Main Street will provide 24-hour staffing and wraparound supports. "Working towards a Winnipeg without chronic homelessness requires this type of partnership and collaboration," said Siloam Mission CEO Julianne Aitken. All of the new sites will include common areas for tenants to connect and build community "and grow together," Mahmood said.
