Collaborating on waste clean up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/06/2023 (1071 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The May 30 Free Press featured a story (Mounting garbage, growing frustration) detailing how people living in the Exchange District (both unsheltered and sheltered) are self-organizing to clean up garbage, and the challenges to this project. Neighbourhood cleanups are active around the city, and they are great community-building events. Thank you to everyone involved in making these happen.

We’d like to provide more tools to members of the public who are interested in respecting unsheltered peoples’ rights while supporting neighbourhood clean-ups, and also call for increased supports for this work.

The Kíkinanaw Óma Strategy is an ongoing collaboration between the City of Winnipeg and community organizations to support unsheltered relatives’ human rights and their journey towards successful long-term housing. The document is available at endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca

The document itself is a reflection of Winnipeggers’ commitment to upholding unsheltered relatives’ human rights in the face of housing scarcity — and the knowledge that we are underperforming when it comes to supporting everyone’s mental health and healing as well as behind on evidence-based best practices on harm reduction.

The strategy is sourced in a debate over the 2019 City of Winnipeg Request for Proposals regarding encampment cleanup. At the time, Winnipeggers challenged the RFP with concerns that it would lead to human rights violations for people living in encampments. When then-mayor Brian Bowman responded to these concerns and cancelled the RFP, he requested intensified collaboration between city services and front line organizations to better serve unsheltered relatives.

One of a number of success stories of the strategy is 911 call diversion. Whereas previous to the strategy, calls regarding support for people living unsheltered all went to 911, the strategy invited Winnipeggers to call 311 for non-emergency concerns. These 311 calls are now rerouted to community organizations doing van outreach and collaborating to ensure appropriate, person-centred services to people living in encampments including Main Street Project, Resource Assistance for Youth, North End Women’s Centre, West Central Women’s Resource Centre, Downtown Community Safety Partnership, and St. Boniface Street Links. We’re also pleased that this has decreased call load for the Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Services.

This network of van outreach programs meets every two weeks to collaborate and includes members of Public Works, Community Services, and WFPS. Each meeting includes consideration for clean-ups with people living in encampments, and clean-up after people have left encampments. When any member of the van outreach network becomes aware of an area that is ready for a ‘mindful cleanup,’ we alert our city partners.

Main Street Project and other van outreach programs carry cleanup supplies to support unsheltered residents in their own tidying efforts. Network members also often work directly with unsheltered residents to keep their areas clean. This work forms a part of our relationship-building work, which is foundational in supporting people towards the housing solution that works for them, when housing is available, and when they are ready. To this end, it is important that more affordable, low-barrier housing with culturally appropriate wrap-around supports be built sooner rather than later. The ethic of housing first remains critical to our efforts. Without these changes, people will continue to live unsheltered throughout and beyond Winnipeg.

We note that Councillor Vivian Santos and others have argued for more resources through Public Works for clean-up work. We agree with this call. Specifically, it would be helpful for the city to provide regular garbage collection at preset locations to support those living in encampments in their efforts to keep spaces tidy, rather than waiting for encampments to vacate to go in and do a big clean-up. We also simply need more publicly accessible garbage bins and more frequent pick-ups throughout the city.

The fact is that many relatives living unsheltered are doing their best to keep their living spaces tidy and community organizations are actively collaborating to support them. However, without appropriate infrastructure and support from city services, the work quickly becomes overwhelming and indeed impossible. What do you do with your garbage when garbage cans are out of reach?

Don’t forget, van outreach network members provide basic needs, harm reduction supplies, and do active casework to support people towards housing. Working in partnership with one another allows us to tailor our response as much as possible to the community member who needs it. Please don’t hesitate to connect with the van outreach network through 311 to support unsheltered relatives in your area.

Jason Whitford is the CEO of End Homelessness Winnipeg.