St. Boniface Street Links says it will continue outreach work in spite of loss of city funding
Organization says a $2.5M anonymous donation will keep outreach program alive
A Winnipeg non-profit organization working to get people out of homelessness and addictions says it will carry on, and is even planning to expand, despite losing a significant chunk of city funding.
"We're not going anywhere," St. Boniface Street Links outreach co-ordinator Michelle Wesley said to a round of applause during a public meeting at the Norwood Community Centre on Thursday evening.
"We'll keep showing up, we'll keep doing the work, and we'll continue leaving our mark one life, one street, one step at a time."
A crowd of about 50 people showed up to the meeting, with many looking to vent their frustration, after learning the City of Winnipeg — which took responsibility for allocating funding under the province's homelessness strategy earlier this year — awarded its sole outreach contract to the Main Street Project.
Since 2022, the city had been dividing $550,000 in outreach funding between Main Street Project, Resource Assistance for Youth and St. Boniface Street Links. Street Links got $118,750 annually under the outreach agreement.
According to city budget documents, Street Links still gets $250,000 in city funding for its 24/7 safe space program.
Marion Willis, the organization's executive director, said the number of people who showed up to Thursday's meeting shows that people want Street Links to keep doing what it's doing.
"I felt very encouraged," Willis said.
"The way we measure our success is by the number of encampments we can dismantle, and the number of people we get housed with recovery plans. But a big measurement of our success is in our ability to engage the community, and you saw it here tonight."
$2.5M donation will let Street Links expand: Willis
Willis has previously called the city's outreach funding decision "short-sighted," saying Street Links and Main Street Project have different philosophies. While her organization emphasizes moving people into housing first, Main Street Project prefers a "rights-based approach" that works with people "where they're at," according to Willis.
In an interview with CBC earlier this month, Main Street Project executive director Jamil Mahmood disputed the notion the outreach groups have different philosophies.
"Housing first is meeting people where they're at, right?" he said. "We've always been there to support folks, and our goal has always been to house folks."
Willis said Thursday her organization's outreach work will actually become even more robust, and it's even planning to hire more outreach workers in the coming days and weeks — expanding from a team of 12 to 18 — after a private and anonymous $2.5-million donation received last year from a Winnipeg resident.
That money came from the donor "with a message that 'this money is to make sure you stay in the game, as the only organization that's making any sense to me,'" said Willis.
The donation will now be redirected from other programming to the outreach program, she said.
Although her organization focuses much of its work on east Winnipeg, it will now have the capacity to support people across the city, and "if [city] councillors are looking for us to come into their wards, we are going to do that," said Willis.
She said that work will go beyond trying to get people out of encampments or off the streets.
"You can't house your way out of this homeless crisis, and the police aren't going to police their way out of it," she said. "We have a drug crisis, we really need to start to focus on that."
'We've seen the results': residents' association
Tom Scott, the president of the Old St. Boniface Residents' Association, said he showed up to Thursday's meeting to show his support for an organization making a tangible difference.
He said Willis and Street Links' staff have gained the respect and the trust of the community.
"We've seen the results — we don't have as many encampments, the encampments don't last as long, the encampments don't have as much garbage," Scott said.
"When you have a leader like that, everyone sort of follows suit.… [Willis] deals with people with respect, she sees them as individuals, as people that are on hard times, and she gets them help where they need it."
Cindy Gilroy, the city councillor for the west-central Daniel McIntyre ward, was also at Thursday's meeting, and said she was personally frustrated to learn Street Links would lose outreach funding.
"I think Street Links does an amazing job," she said in a Friday interview. "Their numbers speak volumes for what they are able to do."
She appreciates that the organization tries to address root causes for why people are homeless and struggling, she said.
"This isn't a housing issue, this is an addictions issue — so if we're not going to deal with the addictions, we're always going to see people out on the streets," she said.
Gilroy said she will continue to advocate for funding for Street Links and other groups that do similar work.
Willis said Street Links will try to expand its funding, mainly through private donations.
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