In partnership with Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters and with the support of the Housing Supports Initiative, as well as other funders, The Jubilee Fund will be launching Canada’s first rent guarantee program for at-risk women in Manitoba in May 2022!

When at-risk women are unable to secure public or non-profit housing due to lack of availability, they often turn to for-profit housing but get turned down due to lack of a rental history and/or financial viability in the landlords’ eyes. This can cause them to go back to abusive partners or secure housing with predatory property owners.

This new, innovative program’s sole purpose will be to co-sign for at-risk women’s rent as they rebuild their lives on tight budgets, and help build their rental history to build their independence and secure a safe and good future for their children.

The Ask Auntie Project was developed at the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (BNRC) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2021, as a response to a lack of resources amidst widespread closures across the city. These closures left vulnerable and homeless populations quite literally out in the cold, and Ask Auntie stepped in to fill the gaps, with a focus on providing support to Indigenous people.

Ask Auntie provides an array of supports to individuals in need of everything from a hot coffee and access to hygiene supplies to a community mailbox. Program Coordinator Florence Halcrow explains that the community mailbox allows the vulnerable and homeless population in Brandon to make copies of their ID and keep the originals safe.The Blue Door project, another branch of Ask Auntie, solved the problem of major resource gaps created by Covid-19 by providing a space to eat meals provided by shelters and food banks, a place to use washrooms and access hygiene supplies, and somewhere to fill out applications for housing, income assistance, or identification, all while adhering to social distancing practices.

Ask Auntie currently has four staff members, two working out of BNRC and two at the Blue Door, as well as volunteers and practicum students. By establishing relationships with precariously housed individuals and working with them to create pathways through colonial structures, Ask Auntie is helping protect tenancies and create access to housing. The grassroots model the project follows means that the Ask Aunties work is broad and varied, and they meet program participants where they are at.

Halcrow says “It takes a good network and community to make something like this happen. We wouldn’t be able to do it on our own.”

Chalet Malouin, located in St. Malo, provides housing to seniors who are at risk of homelessness in a rural area with a lack of affordable housing options. The Housing Supports Initiative funding they received has been used to create a full time Housing Support Worker position that has already had a positive impact on those living at Chalet Malouin and on prospective tenants.

The support worker reaches out to seniors facing homelessness and helps them access Chalet Malouin’s housing programs, and existing programs within the community. The organization’s director, Martha Petrusevich, says there is a shortage of rural housing, and that it has been incredibly helpful “to have an additional person to reach out to community, let them know that we do offer low income housing, the lowest in the surrounding towns”.

Petrusevich goes on to explain that “some of our folks come from really bad situations, and in order for them to get housing [at Chalet Malouin] they would need to go through getting rid of bugs etc., and we have a very small staff so there was no one to help them get connected to programs and services offered by the municipality. This way we can connect folks to the right resources at a faster pace and get people moved in sooner.”

In addition to helping prospective tenants, Petrusovich says the support worker connects those already living at Chalet Malouin with services “such as handi-transit, a foot care nurse, medical appointments, free wheelchairs, hair salon, pharmacy, and groceries” among other essential services. Chalet Malouin is also the only organization in the surrounding community that offers an affordable meal program that serves three meals per day, seven days a week for people on fixed incomes. Seniors from the community that are living on their own are encouraged to use the meal program.

Petrusevich says “before this grant I did not have the staff to do it all, now the full-time staff Housing Support Worker posts vacancies, contacts the waitlist, helps tenants identify emergency contacts, and connects them to community. Some people come to us with nothing and have no one, so we find clothing and mattresses by reaching out to community and local thrift stores”.

Kinew Housing Inc. was created in Winnipeg in 1970 by a small group of community members who were concerned about the lack of decent and affordable housing available to Indigenous people in this city. At the time, Kinew Housing Inc. was the nation’s first Indigenous-led non profit urban housing corporation. Kinew’s success has stimulated the creation of many
more urban Indigenous non-profit housing societies located across Canada.

Kinew focuses primarily on the acquisition and rehabilitation of older homes, and is using the HSI funding to hire a Housing Support Worker who is connecting with vulnerable tenants. In addition to helping create secure tenancies and prevent eviction, the Support Worker is undertaking a training program with Mediation Services.

Although the position is very new, results are already being seen. Kinew Manager, Lawrence Poirier, says “the Support Worker has been working with tenants to make sure they are staying on top of water and hydro bills, trying to make sure readings are accurate, bringing that aspect under control. The last thing we want is to evict someone because of a water bill”. The Support Worker has also been working with tenants who struggle with hoarding, which Poirier says “is an ongoing process, from something as simple as bringing a handful of garbage bags to their home to connecting tenants to resources
that can help them”.

Kinew’s properties are mainly single family homes with yards, and waste disposal and basic yard maintenance is the responsibility of the renter. When this is neglected a tenant runs the risk of garnering complaints based on the
Neighbourhood Liveability By-law, which regulates the maintenance of properties. Accessing waste disposal services through 311 or navigating complex application systems for supportive programming can be onerous, and the Support Worker helps tenants move through these processes, ensuring they are aware of their responsibilities and reducing complaints from neighbours.

Mount Carmel Clinic (MCC) is a non-profit community health centre embedded in the heart of Winnipeg’s North End/North Point Douglas neighbourhoods since 1929. The Wiisocotatiwawin/Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Program provides 24/7 support to individuals who experience chronic homelessness due to significant histories of trauma, mental health issues, and co-occurring substance use issues. Support is offered within a trauma-informed, Housing First model, which includes case management, psychiatric and nursing support, family support, justice support, trauma counselling, and access to Elders and various cultural activities.
ACT is a housing-first, participant-centered program that currently serves individuals with significant histories of complex trauma, serious and persistent mental health issues, and co-occurring substance use concerns, who experience chronic homelessness and who have not benefited from traditional outpatient programs. The HSI funds support ACT to hire an additional outreach worker and case manager to help the team provide quality wrap around services to help clients maintain their tenancy, heal from trauma and mental health struggles, and empower them to meet their own needs.

Westman Immigrant Services (WIS) is a not for profit, charitable organisation that assists immigrants as they adjust to their new life in Canada. They are a regional organisation servicing clients across Western Manitoba with the main office based in Brandon.

The HSI Funding allows WIS to offer programs to support newcomers in their journey in their new country as well as establish a team to help clients in an individualized approach to identify their needs and empower them to achieve their goals for them to become successful tenants, and eventually adapt to their new community and become healthy and contributing member of our society.
The Newcomer Housing Program seeks to:
1. Conduct case management to identify clients’ needs, develop a plan of action, follow-up and make referrals. Individual counseling will be provided as well.
2. Provide referrals to appropriate agencies and ensure clients receive the service or assistance they require.
3. Provide assistance to clients in accessing programs/benefits that will help them financially e.g. EIA, Rent Assist, etc.
4. Conduct group and individual information and orientation sessions to clients on various topics on housing including: rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, understanding lease agreements, pest control, basic home maintenance and life skills training, paying rent fees, saving and budgeting, mental health, and the likes.
5. Provide emergency funds to loan to clients who are at risk of getting evicted due to late payment of rent.
6. Provide emergency shelter to individual and families while they seek for a more suitable and sustainable housing for their family.
7. Provide assistance with other areas of life that affects housing e.g. addictions, domestic violence, physical and mental health, employment, parenting, and education.
8. Eliminate barriers to access to service through provision of support services: interpretation, transportation, crisis counseling.
9. Provide professional development training to staff for them to be equipped with knowledge and skills to help clients.

1JustCity supports three outreach sites that provide drop-in services including free lunches, food hampers, emergency food kits, support to connect with medical professionals, foot care, showers, laundry and programming that ranges from art & literacy to pre-employment for people experiencing poverty.

A Place to Stay is focused equally on supporting individuals who have no home find a home, and supporting individuals at risk of losing their housing stabilize their housing situation. Working out of the three locations, staff members support individuals/families to create a plan for and attain a stable housing situation. They engage with individuals/families to determining their housing preference, support level needed, and seek to secure housing in the Winnipeg market or work to ensure individuals are accessing the benefits they can receive to maintain their housing. This includes; landlord mediation, housing set-up, and re-housing or housing procurement depending on the individual/family’s needs.
Working towards stabilizing people’s housing is to prevent their entry into homelessness and problem solve before they end up needing a shelter. This includes doing work as a landlord liaison, supporting housed individuals to meet requirements to prevent eviction and preserve tenancy, support for budgeting and connecting individuals with appropriate resource for financial management of debt.

Since 1929 The Link (formerly Macdonald Youth Services) has been committed to finding innovative ways to support youth overcome the barriers they face and build better tomorrows as they transition into adulthood and independence. The Link serves 10,000 children, youth, adults, and families annually in Manitoba of which sixty six percent are Indigenous. The agency provides the following culturally informed and partnered services: specialized group care programs, treatment, foster care homes, supported independent living, mobile crisis and follow up therapy, twenty-four-hour shelter, drop-in counseling, skill building, youth employment skills, skill development and culturally based programs.

Miikiwap means Butterfly Lodge in Anishinaabe, a place where youth can spread their wings and fly with the support of two System Navigators and one and a half time Tenancy Support Worker. The Miikiwap at Mayfair program utilizes innovative holistic and preventative approaches.

The importance of human connection with youth and the Miikiwap team in tandem with strong
community supports are important sources of strength and healing for young people with
current and past experiences of homelessness – especially for Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ youth.

The Tenancy support worker continues following up on these supports for months and sometimes years while youth are situated and secure in their first apartments.