Winnipeg transitional home facing possible closure seeks government support

A transitional home in Winnipeg that helps men who’ve experienced poverty, addiction and incarceration get back on their feet may have to close due to financial difficulties.

The possible closure of Forward House would leave their residents with nowhere to go, the home’s chairman says.

“We’ve used up all of our financial reserves and we’re in dire straights,” said Robret Kreis. “And if things don’t change and we don’t find some influx very shortly we have no choice but to close our doors.”

The 24-hour facility offers support for vulnerable men in hopes of successfully integrating them back into society. Since opening its doors almost 30 years ago, the program never relied on government funding. But these past couple years have changed that.

“COVID for the last two and a half years really hurt us hard financially,” said Kreis. “For everyone who is in non-profit charities and churches know giving has gone down considerably during that period of time. We are no different.”

Forward House is struggling with money for its daily operations. And Kries says the lack of funds has also left some of its staff members working unpaid.

“Some of them have gone without pay for several weeks,’ he said. “We’ve had to pay bills to keep things open. We provide not only housing, but we feed participants that are here. So our priorities have to be to that, keeping them safe, health and fed.”

‘Huge interruption’ for residents

The facility currently houses 19 men, including John Tessier, who says the home has helped him turn his life around.

“Having a safe, sober, supporting environment with regular meals and good program really works,” said Tessier. “And I’ve seen it work many times during my stay here.”

Tessier has been living in Forward House since 2019. He says the home provides him a stable environment while he continues his education.

“I feel like if this place is suddenly removed and I wasn’t here it would be a huge interruption to my education and it would be a huge interruption in the lives of the guys that are here,” he said.

Kreis is concerned about what could happen to the men like Tessier who benefit from the service.

“The people that we serve are the invisible people in the city. People tend to look past them,” Kreis said. “They don’t want to see that they are there. And when you come here and talk to the people we look after and hear some of the success stories we had over the years, you wonder why other people wouldn’t jump up to support what we do.”

Kreis says they need a long-term solution to help stabilize their operations. He is calling upon the municipal and provincial governments to step in.

“We thought we were able to find our way through his. It hasn’t worked,” he said. “Everyone here including the staff and volunteers are all working really hard to find a way through this. But if we don’t reach out now then it will be too late for us really shortly.”