Homeless advocates prep as city moves to break up encampment

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This article was published 04/06/2020 (1568 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Long-term solutions to the conflict surrounding homeless encampments in Point Douglas will require a multi-faceted approach, local non-profit organizations say.

“It’s a complex issue, and what we’ve come to is to have a rights-based approach which recognizes that these individuals are the experts in their own lives and they need to be provided options for realizing their right to housing,” said Kristiana Clemens, communications manager for End Homelessness Winnipeg.

“Those options for them are being restricted to an emergency shelter or a tent.”

On Tuesday, a lawyer for the Manitoba Metis Federation sent a letter to Mayor Brian Bowman that outlines safety concerns expressed by staff who work at the federation’s office on Henry Avenue, due to a nearby encampment.

MMF will take “all necessary legal action,” including holding the City of Winnipeg financially responsible for security and property damage costs, should the issue not be addressed, the letter states.

As COVID-19 increases health risks for those experiencing homelessness and causes shifts in individual financial situations, Clemens said the makeup of the group living in unsheltered encampments is shifting, too.

“Because of the rapid change in the composition of the people living there, it’s difficult to have measures take hold in a permanent way,” she said this week.

“Some people are in a position to just live independently in an apartment, other people need support for complex needs which could be related to disability, substance use, mental health, injury, many things.”

Clemens said End Homelessness has been working in collaboration with several city departments, as well as outreach workers and people with lived experience of homelessness, to provide a range of housing solutions — though permanent solutions still appear far away.

Rick Lees, executive director of Main Street Project, said funding from the federal and provincial governments will help support two new shelters for the city’s homeless population, including 200-250 new beds at Main Street’s 190 Disraeli Freeway location.

Government funding doled out in the wake of COVID-19 public health and safety concerns has given Lees new hope for sustainable housing supports.

“Part of a humanitarian response is to give people choice,” Lees said Friday. “For the first time, I feel some optimism that we can make a dent in homelessness in this city.”

Meanwhile. the city is expected to remove the homeless encampment near the MMF office by the middle of next week.

“There are life safety issues, there are COVID-related issues, there are fire safety issues. The city has acknowledged that and has been attempting to balance the need to address those risks with a human rights-based approach,” said Michael Jack, chief corporate services officer.

Lees said Main Street Project began offering new housing options to those living in the encampment Friday morning.

Jack said residents can take personal belongings before the site is cleaned up, or arrange for the city to safely store items individuals want to keep but can’t take with them. He said he’s hopeful the city will convince all residents to leave voluntarily.

Jack and Lees said the city’s move to dismantle the site is based on safety risks, not the MMF’s legal threat.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers

joyanne.Pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga