Winnipeg’s mayor seeks inspiration in Houston to tackle homelessness

Winnipeg’s Mayor Scott Gillingham is heading to Houston, Texas on Sunday for a couple of days to see its homelessness model and determine if a similar idea can be used locally.

“Houston, over the last ten years has made a lot of progress on addressing homelessness,” Gillingham told 680 CJOB’s The Start. “They’ve done it through something similar to what I’ve been calling for is that all agencies and the city and the county in the state all work on one plan.”

Gillingham said the city uses a housing first approach and they’ve been able to house more than 25,000 people over the last decade.

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“So whether it’s the provincial government, the city of Winnipeg, our social service agencies, and community providers, we all need to be working off the same plan if we’re really going to tackle this and make a difference for those struggling with homelessness,” he added.

4:02 Project building packs for people experiencing homelessness arrives in Winnipeg

Gillingham said plenty of agencies in the city are doing good work but sometimes things overlap and what the city needs is a more coordinated approach.

He spoke about an analogy of the difference between kayaks and the river and everybody in a dragon boat.

“We’re kayaks in a river when it comes to approaching homelessness and we need to be everybody in a dragon boat.”

During his mayoral campaign, Gillingham said he would work in partnership with the province to address homelessness and addiction, and would also dedicate a member of his mayoral staff to work specifically on the homeless issues.