UNCOORDINATED: Mayor says Winnipeg won’t end homelessness without a unified approach

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Winnipeg’s mayor and the executive director of a prominent social service agency are calling for all agencies and levels of government to come together under one plan to resolve the city’s persistent homeless problem.

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“A successful team does not have three game plans,” Mayor Scott Gillingham told the Winnipeg Sun. “A successful business cannot have four business plans.”

Gillingham, like the previous mayor, believes all levels of government, the private sector, and NGOs need to better coordinate.

Of potential scepticism among taxpayers, who’ve waited years to see improvement in Winnipeg’s homeless problem, he said, “I don’t blame residents for being cynical. I share the frustrations. I wish things were moving faster.”

Statistics from End Homelessness Winnipeg say at least 1,256 people were experiencing homelessness in the city in May 2022 — 123 were unsheltered, 422 were in emergency shelters, 405 were provisionally housed, and 306 were in unknown locations.

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The problem hasn’t gone away.

Gillingham and others support the Houston, Texas model for managing homelessness, which focuses on the provision of housing and wraparound supports for homeless people regardless of sobriety status or other metrics.

It’s easier to assist people with health problems when they are housed, say proponents.

Over the past 13 years, Houston — population 2.3 million — has lowered its homeless population by around 64% says Houston community organization SEARCH.

“Its success is built on a system that coordinates public policy with 100 different nonprofits,” says an article in Governing, noting the model is sensitive to politics and funding.

The Houston model isn’t new, however. The City of Medicine Hat, Alta., has experienced success with a housing first model.

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In 2009, the community became one of the first Canadian cities to significantly reduce homelessness.

“Considerable progress has since been made as indicated by reductions in shelter use (and) the number of homeless housed,” says the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society on its website.

Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, is also calling for government and agency unity to tackle homelessness.

Street Links has been using a modified Houston model for six years. Over a 36-month period, Willis and her team housed 986 people out of encampments, transit shelters, and other spaces.

“The proof is in our outcome,” she said, noting other outreach teams in the city deserve credit for their efforts.

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“If we are in that boat together, and rowing in the same direction, the goal to achieve is ending homelessness.”

In the end, it’s difficult to completely implement the Houston model in Winnipeg when there is insufficient housing, said Gillingham, adding the city is already using aspects of the housing-first model.

“We are working very hard to reduce the red tape,” he said. “We are not where we need to be yet.”

Other levels of government are working towards building more housing in Winnipeg, said Gillingham.

“It’s going to take a while,” he said. “We didn’t get into this situation overnight.”

In July, Manitoba Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith and a delegation visited Houston to learn about its model.

“Our government is committed to ending chronic homelessness in two terms,”
said Smith.

Gillingham visited Houston in 2023.

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