Siloam Mission launches housing strategy, aims to solve chronic homelessness in Winnipeg
A Winnipeg-based non-profit organization is hoping to tackle chronic homelessness in the city with a newly launched housing strategy.
Siloam Mission said its goal is to create between 700 and 1,000 housing units over the next 10 years to provide more shelter for vulnerable people.
“A lot of people think about homelessness as something that happens to an individual and are looking for individual solutions,” said Siloam Mission CEO Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud. “But at a systems level, most homelessness is caused by a lack of affordable and supportive housing options.”
While Blaikie Whitecloud called the target ambitious, she said it’s possible.
“We’re not going to solve homelessness in Winnipeg without being ambitious,” she said. “We might fall short in 10 years, we might over-deliver in 10 years; I think that there are enough Winnipeggers that want to see a solution to homelessness.”
Currently, Siloam Mission operates 137 housing units around Winnipeg, in addition to its shelter space and drop-in facility in the Exchange District.
According to Blaikie Whitecloud, if Siloam Mission reaches or surpasses its goal of building 1,000 units, the spaces will be able to house around 25 per cent of Winnipeg’s homeless population.
But the new project comes with a hefty price tag. Blaikie Whitecloud estimated each unit will cost between $150,000 and $250,000 to create, but said the investment will pay off.
“We know that there will be so many savings,” she said. “There'll be savings in our health care system when people are housed adequately and can recover or prevent health issues by having housing. There'll be savings in police and ambulance calls. There'll be savings in social systems.”
In order to reach its goal, Siloam Mission said it’s also looking to partner with organizations like True North Sports and Entertainment, as well as the provincial and municipal governments.
The organization said it will also work with the community it serves to develop housing units that best fit their needs.
“What I hope the community members who get to live in that housing after feel is that they were heard,” said Blaikie Whitecloud. “That housing was built for them with them in mind, by their leadership with dignity, so that they can thrive and then in return contribute to society.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Wildfire smoke forecast: Poor air quality in Western Canada, haze in Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires continue to impact air quality across Western Canada, with conditions expected to worsen on Wednesday before improving.
'Not a scarient': New COVID-19 subvariant dominant in Canada
A new COVID-19 subvariant is dominant in Canada, representing just over 30 per cent of cases in the country, but infectious disease experts say there’s no sign it’ll evolve into a summer 'scarient.'
DEVELOPING Massive manhunt in France for prison-break gang that gunned down officers
A massive manhunt was underway in France on Wednesday for an armed gang that killed two prison officers and seriously injured three others to spring an inmate they were escorting.
Growing wildfires across Western Canada are forcing thousands from their homes
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
Sun shoots out biggest solar flare in almost 2 decades, but Earth should be out of the way this time
The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly two decades Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummelled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places.
Victim loses $2M in online romance scam
A Malahide Township resident is out more than $2 million following a romance scam.
Stormy Daniels' husband says they'll likely leave country if Trump is acquitted
The husband of adult film actress Stormy Daniels said on Tuesday that there’s a 'good chance' the couple will leave the country if former President Donald Trump is acquitted in his Manhattan criminal trial.
An imbalance of two healthy fats affects your early death risk, study finds
Eating enough healthy fats is great for brain and heart health, but new research has possibly provided even more evidence for adding them, particularly omega-3s, to your diet.
'Inappropriate' behaviour shuts down Dublin to New York City portal
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.