Filipino seniors centre dealing with repeated vandalism in North Point Douglas

A Filipino seniors centre, which has been a staple in Winnipeg’s North Point Douglas community since the 80s, says they have been forced to deal with constant vandalism to their property, for weeks.

“We’re trying to bring people to the North Point Douglas community but it’s difficult to do that when the vandalism,“ explained Aida Champagne, the program director of the Filipino Seniors Group of Winnipeg.

“We came in here, the chain fence link was cut open in two separate places, one underneath the ramp and one on the left side. Look at the back and see that the air conditioning compressor was knocked down.”

Champagne says they’ve dealt with theft attempts, had their windows broken just before Christmas, along with numerous graffiti incidents. The group says the uptick in vandalism has deterred people from coming to the centre and they need help.

“We’re trying to get the attention of our local officials, our police, to probably have a foot patrol around the area and more police visibility around the area,” said Champagne.

The nieghbourhood’s city councillor, Ross Eadie, says he feels for the group, and that vandalism is a problem all over North Point Douglas, right now. He’s planning a safety meeting for community members to express their concerns to the police.

“We’re going to bring all the different services so the people of North Point Douglas can speak directly to them.  I know there have been discussions with the Point Douglas residents committee who continually point out to me as well these problems in the Point Douglas area which is both North and South Point Douglas,” explained Eadie.

Champagne adds, “I’m glad that this is happening, that we can do that here.  Maybe we can bring out the issues in North Point Douglas to our local officials, and the police services.”