'We're in dire straits': Winnipeg non-profit facing closure amid decrease in donations

A Winnipeg non-profit that offers support to vulnerable men is facing closure due to pandemic costs and decreased donations.

Forward House is a transitional housing program that provides 24-hour support for men who have experienced addiction, mental health issues, and homelessness. The organization has 25 transitional beds in the Elmwood neighbourhood.

“We provide them with supports to help give them the confidence to go back either into the group home, independent living, or in some cases even back to their families, and then provide them with ongoing support afterward to help make them be more successful in their recovery program,” said Robert Kreis, volunteer chair for Forward House.

Now, the non-profit is looking for help as it’s struggling due to extra costs from the pandemic and a lack of donations. The organization has used up its financial reserves, some staff have gone weeks without pay, and a furnace in one of its homes has stopped working.

“During the last 2.5 years of COVID, it hit us very hard financially in that donations were down,” he said.

Forward House is calling on the government for emergency funding support, and is also looking to the public for help. Kreis said the non-profit has traditionally been funded through donations from churches and private individuals, and has never asked the government for money.

“We’re in dire straits. We need some assistance. We’re looking for the government to step in and help provide us with a little bit of financial stability, so we can carry on providing the services that we are,” he said.

Kreis added that transitional housing programs are important and are also in short supply. He noted that without these types of supports some people may fall back into addiction, homelessness and poverty.

“It becomes a repeating cycle, where now you have more police calls, you have more ambulance calls, emergency rooms get filled up and you still don’t have people getting the help that they need,” he said.

Kreis said transitional housing is in “crisis” right now and “it needs an injection of cash.” He added that though Forward House is in jeopardy, the organization is committed to making it work.

“We will never give up. We will continue to fight for this. We just hope that through either some generous donations from the public or from the government stepping in to at least help us through this tough period so we can get things reorganized and increase our donations that we’ll be able to make it through,” he said.

Those who would like to help can volunteer or provide financial donations.