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“When a female Indigenous leader has a dream, it is so real that it defines the trusted narrative of her life’s journey. Lucille Bruce, the President & CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg shares her vision about how, through Indigenous led healing, Indigenous led consultation with the homelessness community that it is possible to end homelessness in Winnipeg. She talks about how, through change management, she and her team were able to take a very complex issue and break it down so that all agencies, stakeholders, the three levels of government and the private sector could work together to reflect and respect that housing is a human right.”

Listen to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/lucille-bruce-president-ceo-of-end-homelessness-winnipeg/id1551694152?i=1000515284155

End Homelessness Winnipeg Newsletter: April 2021 View this newsletter on Mailchimp April 7 Virtual Event on Ending Homelessness Zoom in on Wednesday, April 7 at 7pm for a one-hour discussion on steps needed to end homelessness in our city. From Crisis to Connection: Ending Homelessness in Winnipeg will feature people with lived and work experience -including local Indigenous voices- sharing expertise and perspectives on ending homelessness in our city. Speakers include Elder Charlotte Nolin; Betty Edel, End Homelessness Winnipeg; Glenn Johnson, Jacob Kaufman and Adrienne Dudek, Main Street Project; and Angelina Pelletier, Ndinawe. The event will be moderated by Kirsten Bernas of the Right to Housing Coalition. This free event is open to all. Register here COVID-19 and Homelessness in Winnipeg Research is underway to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on people experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg. Thanks to a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Engage Grant, University of Winnipeg professor Dr. Jino Distasio is partnering with End Homelessness Winnipeg on the project COVID-19: An Indigenous Pandemic Response to Homelessness. This initiative will draw together lessons learned over the past 12 months, during which local service providers adapted and collaborated as never before in order to keep people safer. Learn more here Housing First Webinars  Registration is now open for two upcoming sessions in the International webinar series on Housing First, hosted by the Ontario Housing First Regional Network Community of Interest and the Housing First Europe Hub: Housing First and the 10-20% April 29, 8:30-10am  This session will explore the 10-20% of clients who are unsuccessful in ending their homelessness through participation in a Housing First program. Presenters will highlight the research, challenges, programs and supports for those who have had difficulty getting stably housed through Housing First. Register here Housing First and Women May 5, 8:30am-10am This session will examine research and work on the pathways to Housing First for women, families/mothers experiencing homelessness, as well as domestic violence and Housing First. Register here  Recordings and resources from previous sessions are available on the webinar series web page.  Ekosani, Miigwetch, Maarsii, Thank you!

End Homelessness Winnipeg Newsletter: March 2021 View this newsletter on Mailchimp Bold Steps Needed To End Homelessness End Homelessness Winnipeg CEO, Lucille Bruce, recently published an op-ed in the Winnipeg Free Press: “End Homelessness Winnipeg was created in 2015 to lead implementation of our city’s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Since that time, other Canadian cities have taken significant steps toward preventing and reducing homelessness. Some communities, such as Medicine Hat, have ended homelessness entirely. It has become clear what needs to happen for Winnipeg to realize similar success.” Read more here.  Federal Budget Submission End Homelessness Winnipeg has provided a submission to the federal government’s pre-budget consultations 2021. The submission calls for urgent investments in rapid housing and an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy. Download and read the submission here. Job Opportunities  End Homelessness Winnipeg is hiring a Senior Accounting Coordinator. The deadline to apply is March 17. For details please visit:  https://endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca/now-hiring/ End Homelessness Winnipeg is also recruiting a Manager, Housing Supply, for a full-time term position of up to 12 months. The deadline to apply is March 25. Details are also available at https://endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca/now-hiring/ The Wabano Centre is hiring an Indigenous Homelessness Systems Pathfinder to facilitate development of an Indigenous-specific assessment tool and process for Coordinated Access systems. This is a 1-year contract with the ability to work remotely from anywhere in Canada. For details please visit: https://wabano.com/job/indigenous-homelessness-systems-pathfinder/ Ekosani, Miigwetch, Maarsii, Thank you!

End Homelessness Winnipeg was created in 2015 to lead implementation of our city’s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Since that time, other Canadian cities have taken significant steps toward preventing and reducing homelessness. Some communities, such as Medicine Hat, have ended homelessness entirely.

It has become clear what needs to happen for Winnipeg to realize similar success.

Two areas pose the most significant challenges for ending homelessness here: first, there is a lack of appropriate housing supply to meet the needs of those experiencing or at risk of homelessness; and second, there is a lack of co-ordination among different levels of government to create the housing needed.

Kíkininaw Óma, the Strategy to Support Unsheltered Winnipeggers, was released last June, calling for the creation of housing as the top priority for addressing unsheltered homelessness and encampments. Since that time, the Winnipeg Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment, CMHC’s 2020 Rental Market Report and a Parliamentary Budget Office Report on Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing all point to the same critical gaps in Winnipeg’s housing continuum: shortages of low-income housing units for singles, larger families, Indigenous people and people requiring supportive housing.

End Homelessness Winnipeg has conservatively estimated that at least 1,340 new units are required by 2025 to address these gaps. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, over the past three years combined, only 143 affordable units have been created across Manitoba. Last week, the province announced another 50 units will be made available.

This leaves more than 250 new units needed each year, for the next four years. All levels of government have roles to play, and must work together to achieve this target.

The Our Winnipeg 2045 Development Plan commits to “End Homelessness”; however, the city’s outdated zoning and development regime presents obstacles to creating the types of housing needed to achieve this. The city has numerous tools at its disposal to fast-track the types of housing Winnipeg is missing, by reducing red tape and costs for developers of urgently needed housing. Expediting approvals and waiving fees for permits, zoning and development of low-income housing initiatives are just a few of these options.

The province’s three-year action plan prioritizes housing and supports for “Manitobans experiencing homelessness, people with mental or physical disabilities, persons with addictions, youth aging out of care, and women fleeing violence.” To address this priority, the province will need to house more than 1,500 Winnipeggers experiencing homelessness, a large majority of whom belong to one or more other prioritized groups.

While the Canada-Manitoba Housing Benefit will assist up to 370 people to access a broader range of housing, and a recent announcement commits to housing supports for another 250 individuals, success of these measures is threatened by inadequate housing supply. Kíkininaw Óma calls for the province to invest in 670 new units of supportive and low-income housing to address its own priorities as a housing funder.

The federal government also needs to invest in capital and operating costs of low-income housing, and in Indigenous-led housing models and initiatives specifically. To meet its goals of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and ending chronic homelessness, the federal government must lead collaborative engagement with other levels of government and Indigenous leaders.

Bold investments are required for Reaching Home, Canada’s Homelessness Strategy; the Rapid Housing Initiative; and an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy. This last measure is particularly important, given that Winnipeg has 9,000 Indigenous households in core housing need — the largest of any Canadian metropolitan area.

Beyond these actions specific to levels of government, co-ordinated effort from philanthropy, the private sector and Indigenous leadership is needed to end homelessness in Winnipeg. Social innovation is required to develop low-cost, sustainable housing alternatives. Promising Indigenous-led models such as The Village project will have to be scaled to meet demand.

Community agencies must work in ever-closer collaboration to provide the person-centred, culturally appropriate supports some people need to thrive in housing. Systemic racism within public and charitable services must be addressed by building capacity for Indigenous-led, culturally informed solutions.

Government systems that currently inflow people to homelessness — Corrections, Child and Family Services, Health and Community Living Disability Services among them — require changes to policies and procedures that prevent or delay access to identification, employment and income assistance, housing and other services for individuals exiting their care.

This is an ambitious set of tasks on a tight timeline. However, it is not vague, overly complex, or unachievable. Working together, we can end homelessness in Winnipeg.

-This opinion editorial was authored by Lucille Bruce, former CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg, and published in the Winnipeg Free Press.