St. Boniface Street Links expands reach with new transitional housing in Centennial area
Outreach organization working with property owner to house people experiencing addictions, homelessness
An outreach organization known for serving people east of the Red River is expanding into Winnipeg's inner city.
St. Boniface Street Links has partnered with a property owner to open a transitional housing facility on Fountain Street, in the Centennial neighbourhood.
It will offer housing for people experiencing addictions and homelessness, and provide them with around-the-clock support, St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis said Tuesday.
"I really do believe that is the way forward to address the addictions crisis," Willis said. "In my view, community-based recovery is the right model."
The apartment block at 259 Fountain St. — west of Main Street and south of Henry Avenue — will offer drug-free transitional housing for people leaving the organization's temporary shelter space on St. Mary's Road, Willis said.
The building will have a four-bed drug stabilization centre and suites on its main floor, with 29 rooms on the second floor that will share bathrooms and kitchens, she said.
Residents will be "well supported," Willis said, with Street Links planning to have outreach workers and psychiatric nurses in the stabilization unit. It will also be able to drive clients to rapid access to addictions medicine (RAAM) clinics or potentially have a mobile medical clinic visit them at home, she said.
The transitional housing is also a way to fill a gap in housing stock, said Willis.
"We've lost so much of our … low-barrier housing stock. There's very little, and that's why people are out there in encampments."
'It feels amazing': tenants
Devony Hudson and Dwayne Sumner are among the complex's first tenants.
They were also among the dozens of people forced to leave a College Avenue apartment block in July, in what the province says were illegal evictions.
That left them bouncing first from an apartment without hydro to encampments, before Street Links offered them beds at its St. Mary's facility, the couple said.
After a month of daily doses of Suboxone — a prescription drug that helps manage and treat opioid addictions — Hudson and Sumner said they weaned themselves off a drug known as "down," which can contain opioids such as fentanyl and heroin.
They've now become the caretakers of 259 Fountain St.
"It feels amazing … being sober. It feels like more doors are being opened for us, and like, more better opportunities," Hudson said.
"We get a second chance at life," added Sumner.
Inside the two-storey building's foyer, they proudly display the house rules on the wall, handwritten and laminated on brightly coloured paper: the community-style living arrangement calls for a drug-free and respectful environment and no guests.
The complex has about a dozen tenants so far, the couple said. People can cook or get meals at nearby Siloam Mission, play games and watch movies in a common area at the Fountain property, but they're also expected to help with chores.
Property owner Sam Tourond said he had his doubts about the project, but with an indoor and outdoor camera system, along with security and Street Links staff on hand, he's changed his mind.
"Let's try something different here," Tourond said.
"A lot of property owners are scared … or they don't want to deal with it. Well, not dealing with it and not giving somebody an opportunity, how are we going to advance? Like, how's it going to improve? You can't improve it without there being risk, and in this case, I'm taking risk."
But so far, so good.
Tourond is impressed with the community style of living, which he said is helping people hold each other accountable.
His arrangement with Street Links, which pays for security and the rent, is already getting positive reviews from neighbours, he said.
Before a fire in February took the apartment block out of commission for months, it had been the site of multiple calls to firefighters, paramedics and police, said Tourond, who has owned the building for four years.
He hopes the new model under Street Links' management means less strain on emergency services.
"It's good for the city. It's good for people. It's good for everybody," Tourond told CBC Tuesday.
He said he's open to expanding the model to other properties if it proves successful.
Willis is optimistic it will, based on her organization's Morberg House project, which offers a community-based recovery program for men.
Clients of the Fountain block can stay as long as they want, but Willis said after three to 12 months, they may be ready for a different, more independent living arrangement.
In the meantime, Street Links can help clients pursue education or work while in recovery.
Hudson and Sumner, who are now nearly 60 days sober and counting, say they hope their stay means they can reunite with family.
"[We're] so much closer," said Hudson, turning to Sumner.
"And it feels like we're doing really good — eh, babe?"
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