Group providing peer support in public washroom says overnight staffing too dangerous right now

The organization providing peer support services at the city's public washroom on Main Street says it would be too dangerous for them to staff the facility around the clock.

A new report from the City of Winnipeg lays out various options for increasing operating hours at Amoowigamig, the public washroom on Main Street near Higgins Avenue.

Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc. has a contract with the city to provide peer-support services at the facility — which is currently open 10 hours a day, between 8 a.m. and 6 pm. — seven days a week.

The report calls the current model "a remarkable success" with between 3,000 and 5,000 visits per month. In addition to giving people a place to use the bathroom, staff give out harm reduction supplies, feminine products and condoms. 

Staff have also administered the anti-overdose medication Narcan eight times.

In March, city councillors ordered a report that would look at ways of increasing operating hours at the facility, whose name is Ojibway for "public washroom."

The current operating model costs $270,500 a year. The report, which is set to go before the community services committee next month, estimates the costs and discusses advantages and disadvantages of increasing hours to 12, 16 and 24 hours a day.

"Noting the risks of overnight service provision at this specific location, and that the facility has only be operating since June of 2022, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc. has recommended that any expansion of hours of operation be limited to 16 hours per day until 2026," report author Tanis Knowles Yarnell wrote.

That timeframe would give Ma Mawi time to come up with nighttime safety and security protocols, Yarnell wrote. 

A 16-hour operating model is estimated to cost $432,800 a year. It's estimated 24-hour service would cost $649,200.

The report also considers alternatives to the peer-support staffing models, such as hiring lower-skilled attendants or private security firms, which would cost less.

"This model would not provide the positive social, health, cultural and community economic outcomes associated with Amoowigamig's current peer-supports model," Yarnell wrote in the report.

The report notes that the majority of washroom users are Indigenous, many of them homeless.

"Feedback from neighbouring partner organizations points to Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc.'s unique approach as a key reason for the stability of the site and absence of vandalism and violence during its first year in service."

Funding options for the public washrooms will be included in the 2024-2027 multi-year budget process.