‘Housing First’ model for homelessness gains more support among Manitoba politicians – Winnipeg

As Manitoba addresses the pervasive problem of homelessness, which exists in communities from coast to coast, municipal and provincial leaders are looking to the success of other jurisdictions as a framework for addressing chronic homelessness.

Last September, Mayor Scott Gillingham traveled to Houston, Texas, to see firsthand how the city had successfully reduced its homelessness population by two-thirds since 2012.

“What really impressed me about Houston was that they had a coordinated plan,” Gillingham explained. “All levels of government, frontline nonprofits, the business community had a plan, a coordinated plan.”

Gillingham believes the city is capable of making significant strides, but he noted that a long-standing problem is the lack of affordable housing.

“We have some, but not enough,” Gillingham said. “We have to continue to do our part as the City of Winnipeg to build more housing and build more housing faster.”

While Gillingham is the first to visit Houston, he is not the first to see Housing First as a solution. Back in 2022, when they were in the Official Opposition, the Manitoba New Democratic Party announced that they would investigate the model if elected.

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Manitoba Housing Minister Bernadette Smith, who led a delegation to Houston two weeks ago, said in addition to increasing the amount of affordable housing, Manitoba and the city of Winnipeg need to draw on as many support organizations as possible.

“How do we really bring all the systems together to make sure we’re providing support in the right way and moving people out of the system,” Smith said. “I think that’s something we do really well in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where we focus on the people and we all have good intentions.”

The Houston model is far from perfect, said Shauna MacKinnon, professor and chair of the Urban and Inner City Studies department at the University of Winnipeg. She believes politicians around the country have taken more progressive steps to address chronic homelessness.

“Expanding social housing, increasing the support for people, providing wrap-around support for people once they’re in, putting in place better tenant protections,” McKinnon explained. “Those are things we need to be focusing on in order to have a more comprehensive approach, but they’re not really being done in Houston.”

Tessa Blaikie-Whitecloud, CEO of Siloam Mission, said her organization was ready to work with all levels of government on the issue.

“People experience homelessness when all the other systems have failed them in some way,” Whitecloud said. “We really need to make sure we have an inclusive and caring community space within housing so people can find a sense of belonging and thrive from that.”

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