Some apartments in Winnipeg's inner-city neighbourhoods are being converted into clean and safe living options for people recovering from addiction.
Many of the suites have been left in shambles due to drugs and crime.
One man is hoping to turn things around by working with landlords and property owners, and a resident said the project is making a big difference.
Sober for more than seven months, former methamphetamine user Haley Harrington, 21, has found hope in a new apartment.
She recently moved into her own suite in a building on Jarvis Avenue – a place where she feels safe and comfortable.
"I jumped on the opportunity because I was looking for a new place to live and learn and grow in my recovery,” said Harrington.
She lives in one of 20 suites in the building rented out by Chris D'Souza, who started the program he calls 'multicultural addictions recovery and supports.'
He teamed up with a property management company and the owner of the building to create clean and safe living options and community volunteer opportunities for people, once they've completed addictions treatment.
"That's where we want to support them to get a life and contribute back and recover the things they've lost,” said D’Souza. “Family, job, money, place to live, dignity – all those pieces."
D'Souza said he’s received funding from private sources in order to pay rent in the suites he's using for his program.
He said a portion of each participant's rent is covered through the Employment and Income Assistance Program.
D'Souza is also working with the same owner and property management company to convert a building in the West End into clean and safe living.
Many of the suites are now empty but they were once filled with people living with addictions and became a magnet for crime.
“They took over the suite as you can see they destroyed the suite,” said D’Souza.
There are holes in the walls, graffiti on them and needles left in otherwise empty cupboards.
The doors to the building have since been reinforced to prevent people who don't live there from getting inside.
D'Souza said only recently have they been able to get the problems under control.
"It's not that we're kicking people out,” he said. “I want to make that very clear.”
“We are just seeing where their motivation is and we're trying to support them in where they are, as they call it, in stages of change in their recovery cycle."
The province said in a news release late last year it's been working with landlords to deal with crime, drug use and exploitation.
Since 2016, Manitoba Justice's public safety investigations unit has responded to 435 complaints about chronic or problematic behaviour – nearly all complaints involved drug use.
It’s the kind of lifestyle Harrington decided she was ready to leave behind.
"My house is pretty clean and nice now because the inside of myself is getting a lot better,” she said. “If I was in the same spot I was four years ago, this place would be trashed. It would be a disaster."
Now that she's in a more stable place, Harrington wants to focus on working with others who need help fighting addiction.
D’Souza’s hoping to grow his program. He said he’s hoping to work with community agencies and all levels of government to expand.
