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| End Homelessness Winnipeg Newsletter: October 2021 View this newsletter on Mailchimp Meet new CEO, Jason Whitford  End Homelessness Winnipeg’s new CEO, Jason Whitford, started in the role on Monday, October 4. Right away, he was in the news to speak about fire and life safety at encampments and the urgent requirement for housing and services that meet the needs of our unsheltered relatives. In his first weeks on the job, Jason has met with staff and partners, as well as local, provincial and Indigenous leadership. On October 20, he provided an update on End Homelessness Winnipeg’s work to the City of Winnipeg’s Executive Policy Committee. Jason has worked in our community for more than a quarter of a century, with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Eagle Urban Transition Centre and most recently, as the Executive Director of Shawenim Abinoooji, an organization offering support services and specialized foster care placements for children and youth with complex needs, and on-reserve foster care placement services throughout the Southeast First Nations to keep children close to home. While program manager at Eagle Urban Transition Centre, he co-authored “Examining the Urban Aboriginal Policy Gap: Impacts on Service Delivery for Mobile Aboriginal Peoples in Winnipeg, Canada.” Jason also brings to his new role some first hand experience with End Homelessness Winnipeg, having served as Chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. Please join us in warmly welcoming Jason! Read the Annual Report Many thanks to the more than 75 organizational and community members who participated in End Homelessness Winnipeg’s Annual General Meeting on September 22. To find out more about End Homelessness Winnipeg’s work in 2020-2021, download the Annual Report here. Download the Fall Resource Guide and Winter Safety Tip Sheet Autumn weather can be unpredictable. Know how to access critical services like mobile outreach, shelters, safe spaces, drop-ins and meals by downloading the Fall 2021 Resource Guide here. As weather gets colder, know how to prevent and respond to cold season safety risks. Download a plain language safety tip sheet with information on mobile outreach, warming spaces, as well as fire, cold and COVID-19 safety and prevention information here. Extreme Weather Response Plan partners are finalizing plans for expanding warming and sheltering options for community members this winter. Stay tuned! |
“Efforts should continue to be directed at the root causes of homelessness — including mental illness, addictions and poverty — and to finding lasting ways to help people before they end up on the street. But it’s also important to keep an eye on the calendar and realize mid-October in Winnipeg means it will soon become dangerously cold to be outside 24/7.
The immediate focus should be narrow: what is realistically doable, before the snow comes?
A group with the experience to offer apt direction to steer government funds toward protecting homeless people from the immediate hazards of winter is the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization End Homelessness Winnipeg. Responding to the pandemic last winter, the group formed an Extreme Weather Response Committee that addressed COVID-19 needs such as additional drop-in spaces.
This group’s front-line expertise should be valued, and it should be granted sufficient emergency funding to boost immediate protection for homeless people who choose to access it.”
Read more from the Winnipeg Free Press: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/as-winter-looms-immediate-supports-required-575531662.html
“End Homelessness Winnipeg, an Indigenous organization, is the local Community Entity for Reaching Home. They provide the city’s homeless-serving sectors with backbone support for developing and implementing shared strategies that can prevent and end homelessness, according to Kristiana Clemens, Manager, Communications & Community Relations at End Homelessness Winnipeg. They partner with dozens of organizations and agencies offering housing, housing supports, emergency shelter, outreach, drop-in, health and social services to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.”
Read more from the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness Blog: https://caeh.ca/bright-spot-winnipeg/
“In 2015, a number of community groups came together to develop a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Winnipeg. Since then, members at End Homelessness Winnipeg – Local 439 have taken on this ambitious goal with commitment and passion, bringing together community agencies, funders, public and private sectors and concerned citizens to address the root causes of homelessness and prevent its occurrence.
For Rustam Dow, this means using his Master’s of Information from the University of Toronto to help several emergency shelters and frontline agencies track their clients, services and costs through HIFIS, an innovative piece of software developed by Economic and Social Development Canada.”
Read more from MGEU: https://www.mgeu.ca/about-us/member-profiles
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| End Homelessness Winnipeg Newsletter: September 2021 View this email on Mailchimp Annual General Meeting, September 22 You are invited to attend End Homelessness Winnipeg’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 from 2-3:30pm via Zoom. Learn about the work of End Homelessness Winnipeg over the past year, and meet the organization’s Board of Directors. All are welcome to attend and members are eligible to vote. Advance registration is required, so please click here to register. Announcing Incoming CEO End Homelessness Winnipeg’s Board of Directors has named Jason Whitford as incoming CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg. Jason has served most recently as Executive Director of Shawenim Abinoooji, an organization offering support services and specialized foster care placements for children and youth with complex needs, and on-reserve foster care placement services throughout the Southeast First Nations to keep children close to home. He formerly worked as program manager at Eagle Urban Transition Centre, where he co-authored “Examining the Urban Aboriginal Policy Gap: Impacts on Service Delivery for Mobile Aboriginal Peoples in Winnipeg, Canada.” Jason is a graduate of the Business Administration program at Red River College and the Human Resource and Management program at the University of Winnipeg. He brings to this new role some first hand experience with End Homelessness Winnipeg, having served as Chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. Please join us in welcoming Jason to the role of CEO, starting October 4! Bridge to Nowhere Ride, September 11 On Saturday, September 11th, 2021 a group of philanthropic cyclists will embark on a journey to put the brakes on homelessness in Winnipeg, with net proceeds to support Resource Assistance for Youth, Willow Place and Red Road Lodge. There are several ways to support this First Annual Ride: Click Here to Register as a Rider Click Here to Donate to a Rider or the Ride itself Click Here to learn more about being a Corporate Sponsor Vote Housing, September 20 The federal election is less than two weeks away. Join the national, non-partisan campaign to end homelessness and make housing safe and affordable for all in Canada! Vote Housing mobilizes Canadians across the country to ensure all political parties support making bold investments in affordable housing and ending homelessness. Click below to learn more.  Ekosani, Miigwetch, Maarsii, Thank you! |