The Manitoba government is expanding its financial support to homeless shelters as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced Friday.
Stefanson said the province is pledging almost $760,000 to help vulnerable Manitobans during the coronavirus crisis.
“As we continue to respond to COVID-19 together, we must ensure there are services in place to support those who are most vulnerable, including people experiencing homelessness,” said Stefanson.
“These investments will help ensure trusted, community-based organizations can extend or expand their supports, so everyone has a safe place when they need it.”
The funding is intended to support expanding capacity at a Main Street Project (MSP) location on Disraeli Street for the next three months as well as continued operation of MSP’s Sargent Avenue site until the end of September.
The Salvation Army’s Winnipeg Centre of Hope will also receive funding to ensure its ongoing operations — the shelter has had to fit fewer people to accommodate physical distancing protocols. Patrons pay a nightly fee to get a bed, meaning the shelter has brought in less cash.
“We are very grateful to live in a province that has taken a well-planned approach to limiting the spread of the virus,” said Maj. Gordon Taylor, the Winnipeg Centre of Hope’s executive director.
“There has been a tremendous sense of co-operation among various agencies and levels of government that has made it possible to meet unique needs and numerous challenges.”
A month of operational costs is also being pledged to Samaritan House Ministries’ Safe and Warm Shelter in Brandon — a facility typically open only during winter months but which has remained open to help support vulnerable clients during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, advocates have long called for more access to affordable housing as a means of helping people experiencing homelessness.
“Ultimately outreach and safe spaces are being looked at for specific populations, these measures are helpful, but what’s really needed is housing for people and we have a critical issue in our city with a lack of adequate housing supply to meet the needs of low-income Winnipeggers,” said Khris Clemens, End Homelessness Winnipeg’s communications manager in a recent interview.
Asked Friday about access to housing, Stefanson pointed to the Progressive Conservative government’s investments in Manitoba Housing since 2016 and a plan to increase the rent assist program allotment.
“We have signed a bilateral agreement with the federal government to ensure that over $400M goes toward affordable housing in the province of Manitoba over the next 10 years,” she added, referring to a deal inked in June 2019.