Two prominent Winnipeg social-service agencies that failed to secure grants from a federal housing program will have to put their plans to help the homeless on hold for the time being.
Main Street Project and Siloam Mission were two of 55 grant applicants left on the outside looking in last week when the federal government and City of Winnipeg announced that $25 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund capital grant program had been awarded to 11 housing projects.
Representatives of the two organizations lauded the approved projects and said they’ll be back in line with proposals next year.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Siloam Mission, pictured, and the Main Street Project were two of 55 organizations to have their grant applications rejected in the first round of the municipal-federal Housing Accelerator Fund program.
“We have informally received positive feedback,” said Ana Ziprick, MSP’s director of development.
“It was well received. We are confident we can move it forward the next round… there were a lot of great projects which were approved; we’re feeling hopeful and confident.”
MSP’s proposal was one of 66 applications the city received to get a portion of $160 million in grants the federal government approved for Winnipeg.
Mayor Scott Gillingham said last week that “the interest is great.”
“The fund was oversubscribed,” he said. “More applications came in than we could accommodate this first round, but there will be other rounds to come.”
Gillingham said city staff will “provide a service, a concierge service” to the unsuccessful applicants in an effort to help get those projects up and running.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chair of the civic property and development committee, said the city is also informing the unsuccessful applicants about other funding possibilities.
“There are many ways we are still helping,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry).
“The (federal) housing accelerator fund plays an important role, but we have been completing projects for some time now before it and we will continue.”
Ziprick said MSP proposed the creation of 111 housing units to help transition people from homelessness, including those living in encampments.
She said the proposed location was above the organization’s existing single-storey building; three additional storeys above the former Mitchell Fabrics, at 637 Main St. Main Street Project purchased the building in 2018 and transformed it into an emergency homeless shelter.
According to the Manitoba Historical Society, the building was originally constructed as a five-storey building in 1907. Because of a property tax dispute, the top four floors of the building were demolished in 1934.
The building went on to later house the Oak Theatre and other retail businesses, including Mitchell Fabrics, which eventually took over the entire property.
Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, Siloam Mission’s chief executive officer, expressed confidence about her organization’s plan to create medically assisted transitional housing spots. She said mission staff are meeting with city officials next week.
She said the people the proposal intends to help are “holding up hospital beds now” because they have nowhere to go after they’re discharged.
“We will be reapplying and we are hoping to learn how we can make (the proposal) stronger,” she said. “We still think it is a very important project.”
Blaikie Whitecloud said Siloam doesn’t have to construct a new facility for the planned transitional housing because it already has the space.
“It will be on the fourth floor of our existing building,” she said. “We’ve already moved what we had there to a new building.”
Blaikie Whitecloud said the total budget for the project is $3.6 million and it will be used to build walls for the units, as well as install the necessary plumbing to create bathrooms.
“I do think very important projects were chosen, but we will try again,” she said.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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