Manitoba pledges nearly $7M for homelessness strategy
Posted March 28, 2023 4:35 pm.
Last Updated March 28, 2023 4:37 pm.
The Manitoba government is investing $6.87 million to help end homelessness across the province.
Families Minister Rochelle Squires made the announcement Tuesday, saying the investment is part of the province’s homelessness strategy that was announced in January 2022.
“Our government understands that addressing homelessness calls for a coordinated multi-faceted approach that includes community-led solutions to meet the needs of people who are precariously housed or experiencing homelessness,” said Squires.
Squires noted the province is seeing a lot of youth out of the child welfare system and said they are at increased risk of experiencing homelessness.
Of the funding announced, $4.68 million will go towards supports for youth transitioning out of the child welfare system.
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Roughly $1.3 million will also be invested into the Housing Supports Initiative until 2025. The funding will go to organizations like the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and Westman Immigrant Services, which work on eviction prevention, organizational capacity building and case management services that help proactively prevent homelessness.
“This funding will allow us to expand our homeless outreach mentoring services in Brandon. With this investment, our organization will now have the resources to hire additional staff, who will provide direct support at street level to those experiencing homelessness in our community,” said Stephanie Lockerby, executive director of Community Health and Housing Association Westman Region Inc.
