Latest news with #JamilMahmood
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Main Street Project gets exclusive contract for Winnipeg homelessness outreach
Social Sharing The Main Street Project has been awarded an exclusive contract from the City of Winnipeg to do outreach work with people living in encampments. The city previously funded three organizations — Main Street Project, St. Boniface Street Links and Resource Assistance for Youth — for the work. Now, all calls about encampments will be forwarded to Main Street Project. The non-profit will take the lead on helping to implement the provincial homelessness strategy, which focuses on moving people out of camps and into housing. The contract provides $275,000 for July 1 to Dec. 31, with the possibility of extensions for two years, with $550,000 available in each year. In an interview Thursday, Main Street Project executive director Jamil Mahmood said the organization is one of the few with the capacity to do 24/7 citywide homelessness outreach. "The amount of money in the award isn't enough to do that, and so we're fortunate we have partnership funding from End Homelessness Winnipeg … that allows us to leverage other money to put a full outreach team on the road," Mahmood said. The new contract comes six weeks after people in Point Douglas raised concerns after a team of Main Street Project outreach workers was seen helping set up an encampment in the area. On May 20, a Selkirk Avenue resident recorded a video of workers carrying supplies down to the riverbank. Several Point Douglas residents who spoke to CBC News said they're not happy that Main Street Project was awarded the new contract. Province, city clarified 'other options': MSP Speaking to CBC News about the incident for the first time, Mahmood said police officers asked their outreach workers to help move the people in the camp over fears about riverbank flooding, but no housing options were immediately available. "[Firefighters] may deem that because of life safety issues, [a] camp needs to be moved or dismantled," he said. "Ideally, we have places to house people from those places, but that's not always the case." Mahmood said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Manitoba Housing Minister Bernadette Smith spoke to him about the May incident, and explained there are other options when safety concerns force camps to move. "I think what's different now, and what was clarified in the [provincial] Your Way Home strategy — and thanks to the mayor and the minister for clarifying that — is that now they're going to provide more resources," Mahmood said. The provincial homelessness strategy allows for "flex funding" for temporary accommodations in emergencies. "So we have other options, versus just moving encampments from one location to another." Gillingham has previously said anyone doing outreach work for the city must be "fully committed" to the province's strategy — a point he says he made in meetings with Main Street Project. "And they're committed to the Your Way Home strategy," Gillingham said in an interview Thursday. "Nothing's moving fast enough for anybody, I don't think. We need to see more progress faster, but everybody's working toward that end." 'Short-sighted' decision: Street Links As part of its application for the contract, Main Street Project committed to partnering with Resource Assistance for Youth, or RAY, as a subcontractor, handling calls regarding homeless youth. As for St. Boniface Street Links, Mahmood says he hopes there will be opportunities to partner with the other organization, which responds to calls about encampments on the east side of the Red River. Street Links executive director Marion Willis, however, isn't sure the two groups can work together. "We have a different philosophy than Main Street Project," Willis said. Her organization emphasizes moving people into housing first, she said, whereas Main Street Project prefers a "rights-based approach" that works with people "where they're at." She called the city's decision "short-sighted," and said officials didn't consult with people in the area about the impact the loss of funding to Street Links would have. Mahmood disputes the idea the two groups have different philosophies. "Housing first is meeting people where they're at, right?" he said. "I think there's maybe a slight difference in approach. There's a difference obviously in how each organization functions, but we've always been there to support folks, and our goal has always been to house folks." In an emailed statement, Housing Minister Smith said Main Street Project is "working in alignment" with the province's strategy.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Winnipeg mayor wants next mobile outreach contractors 'fully committed' to strategy to end homelessness
Organizations that receive the city's next contract to provide mobile outreach services to people living in encampments should be fully committed to the provincial government's strategy to end homelessness, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says. Teams of outreach workers funded by the city provide services to people living in encampments 24 hours a day. The city's current contract expires at the end of June. A request for proposals posted on the city's website on Thursday includes a requirement that proposals align with the province's Your Way Home strategy. "We're going to provide funding only to those organizations who are fully committed to and complying with the Your Way Home strategy," Gillingham told reporters on Friday. Under the Manitoba government's Your Way Home strategy, the province has begun purchasing housing units, while the city funds outreach groups to connect people living on the streets with supports. Disagreements over how to get people out of camps and into housing have emerged in the past, with some groups focusing on housing first, while others work to support people wherever they are. This week, residents in Point Douglas accused Main Street Project, a long-standing Winnipeg outreach agency, of helping to set up a homeless camp in Point Douglas. A letter outlining details of the incident was copied to Gillingham's office. In a copy of a response letter sent to CBC News, MSP executive director Jamil Mahmood said it is working with the province to get people out of encampments, but that work is "complex and nuanced," in part due to a shortage of housing. "There may be different philosophies, you know, when it comes to homelessness," Gillingham said. "We want to make sure that we are funding those agencies that are working in full alliance with and partnership with the Province Manitoba strategy, and our strategy as well." Since 2022, the city has contracted with MSP, St. Boniface Street Links and Resource Assistance for Youth to provide mobile outreach services. Outreach worker 'disheartened' The executive director of St. Boniface Street Links says they've cleared away 26 encampments this year, many of them from places along the east bank of the Red River. Marion Willis says she supports the province's strategy, but she's not sure whether they'll apply for the city's funding. She says the plan lacks an adequate housing supply, and funding for supports. "I'm a little disheartened, I'm not going to lie," Willis said. "None of us really understand the You Way Home plan. You know, if I'm to take that RFP (request for proposal) from the city and I'm to align that with the provincial strategy to end homelessness, I'm not sure what that is." Earlier this month, the province said it had rehoused 33 people out of tents and into housing since February. Willis said the progress has been slow. "I kind of feel like the province in the city are both kind of walking back on the commitment to proactively get people out of encampments," she said. Chris Brens, the city's manager of community development, says the province plans to do a significant amount of work over the next seven years to reduce homelessness. Part of that work, in the initial year, is to create new housing spaces. "The outreach service provider support that the city is going to be funding would – if those housing units are available – be a key component of meeting with folks who may be living in encampments, and supporting them into accessing that housing, if appropriate," Brens said in an interview. The city's contract would last until 2027 and is budgeted for $1.65 million, with $275,000 going to pay the city's existing contractors until the end of June.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Province announces $6.4M for new housing units
The provincial government is spending $6.4 million for 67 more social-housing units as part of a plan to get homeless people out of encampments. The Your Way Home plan to move people into housing with needed supports was announced in January. The 67 units are being established in collaboration with Main Street Project, Siloam Mission and Sunshine House. 'We are very excited to be partnering with Siloam Mission and the province for this new housing project,' Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project, said in a news release Friday. 'It is good to work alongside other organizations that have been doing this work for a long time and who understand the challenges in housing previously chronically homeless individuals and know how to support them in successfully maintaining housing.' The news release said 17 encampments have been cleared in less than three months. It's not clear whether that includes an area where new makeshift shelters recently appeared in an area along Waterfront Drive that was cleared not long before.
