Downtown safety partnership floats proposal to replace Millennium Library community hub

A community organization has proposed replacing a defunct social services hub in downtown Winnipeg's flagship library.

The Downtown Community Safety Partnership wants to use a space currently vacant inside the Millennium Library as a "satellite space" for a core team of outreach workers to do casework and provide support on an as-needed basis.

It would replace Community Connections, the service hub that had operated in the library since 2022 but whose funding ran out last December.

DCSP executive director Greg Burnett presented the proposal during a special meeting of the city's executive policy committee on Wednesday.

"My hope is that there's a bit of a win-win here — that we can all work together and making sure we're again providing the services to those that need it most," he told CBC News. 

"I hope it proves successful. I hope it's a good indication … to the city and others. And again, working with partners in the community as best we can."

DCSP proposes the project begin with a two-month trial starting in April to gather data and refine the program. The hub would be open weekdays from 1-4 p.m. 

The proposal says DCSP team members will be able to provide rides to shelters and hospitals, offer non-emergency medical assistance, and redirect people to other services.

DCSP said it does not intend to be a site for drop-ins, though it will be open to the public and be able to support that if needed.

Community Connections began operating in 2022 as a way to address safety concerns at the library, though one city councillor questioned whether a library was an appropriate location for offering such services.

"We're big into … pre-crisis, so we're talking to people beforehand and we can be preventative in a lot of these things," Burnett  said. "We have no intention to take over any type of security protocol or even this space [as a] whole. We really want to work together with everybody."

Burnett says the proposal is in its preliminary stages, and that the DCSP still needs to engage with community partners and other stakeholders to see it through.