Thompson homeless resource shelter enters 1st winter under Indigenous leadership
Wellbreity Centre focussed on safety, security for clients and surrounding community
An Indigenous-led homeless shelter is aiming to bring safety and security as it begins its first winter running the resource.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) — an advocacy organization that represents First Nations in northern Manitoba — assumed the operation of what had been known as the Thomson Healing Centre in July, renaming it the Wellbreity Centre.
Gina Spence says several concerns are being addressed at the space, including overall community safety and providing wraparound care for people in the northern Manitoba city.
"We can help our own people," the centre's manager said. "We look at this holistic approach … helping our own people and getting them back on their feet when they're ready."
The city has come under scrutiny after placing intoxicated people in police holding cells due to lack of space elsewhere.
In 2020, the provincial government pledged $2.8 million for a sobering facility in the city, aiming to create a safe place by late 2021. However, it has yet to materialize.
The newly expanded shelter opened in October 2022 under the Canadian Mental Health Association — but without the sobering centre in place.
After an outcry from the community, operations were taken over by MKO in July after a decision made by Thompson's community wellness and public safety advisory group.
Spence says the centre will take a harm-reduction approach to helping those experiencing addiction, trauma and homelessness. Renovations are underway to increase available beds.
WATCH | MKO's Wellbriety Centre turns no one away:
Some of these renovations, including a tall fence around the building, focus on safety measures because the centre sits across from Wapanohk Community School, which has roughly 500 students.
The centre has also tripled staffing for the safety and well-being of everyone.
The 9,000-square facility has 44 pre-transitional beds available and 25 emergency shelter beds, along with an overflow warming shelter located in the Polaris 5 building in the previous University College of the North area on Princeton Drive.
Since the start of winter anywhere up to 30 people or more have been in overflow, Spence said.
"We can't turn anybody away with the cold weather … you always have room."
Daniel Bloomfield, who hales from Thompson, has been staying at the centre on an occasional basis for the past year.
"This place is really helping me out," Bloomfield said. "They hand out clothing too … they have free laundry, free showers and you get to stay in this nice, warm little area."
Medical van on patrol
Spence says preventing exposure deaths is critical, so the centre's medical van will patrol the city this winter, bringing those who need help to the centre instead of calling the RCMP, Spence says.
The city typically had anywhere from 80 to 100 people needing the shelter, but these numbers have ballooned to more than 200 since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook.
Since MKO has taken over operations of the centre, she says, she has seen people coming to Thompson to get help.
"I think we are on the right track," Smook said. "It's just going to take people and time to get there."
As a northern hub serving 60,000 people from outlying communities it is hard to have support like mental health care for anybody who needs extra help, Smook says. It will take working with different partners, including surrounding communities and the federal government, to address the challenges.
However, that means they'll have to expand their service offerings within the city and ensure staff capacity, Smook said.
Dee Chaboyer, executive director of Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre, says housing is always a challenge in Thompson — especially when it comes to affordable and low-income units.
The centre is providing resources and programming for unhoused people with a safe and warm place to go, with access to a public washroom, Chaboyer says.
"I am optimistic … I really hope that there will be a difference compared to the previous shelter," Chaboyer said.
Sobering centre
Smook says the sobering centre will eventually be attached to the Wellbreity Centre because it remains something the city needs — but it's only a piece of the puzzle.
Smook says the city also needs to build more transitional housing so that when people do need help there's a place to go right away— especially after completing detox or treatment with Addictions Foundation Manitoba.
MKO is still settling into its new role and the sobering centre remains a work in progress, Spence says.
"This will be our first winter … I just want to ensure that I have all my ducks in a row before, you know, getting everything and expanding," Spence said. "We have to do baby steps."
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