Provincial plans for social service hub stir both hope and concern in downtown Brandon

Manitoba Housing is exploring plans to transform a long-vacant seniors' centre in downtown Brandon, Man., into a social services hub.

But as the province gathers community input, tensions are rising between those who see the potential hub as a lifeline for vulnerable residents and others who fear it could undermine ongoing efforts to revitalize the core in the city of 54,000.

Lisa Vasconcelos, who owns the Mecca Productions Theatre and Performing Arts Centre, worries turning the vacant space at 241 Eighth Street into a service support centre will stymie that revitalization.

Her theatre studio, located a couple of blocks from the centre, offers classes to hundreds of children each week, and she's concerned a support hub will create issues in the core that will negatively affect them.

 "I'm 100 per cent supportive of providing support services to people who need them," Vasconcelos said. "[But] I don't believe … that all of the supports need to be focused and situated in downtown Brandon."

Mecca Productions used to perform concerts in the park located across from the seniors' centre, but it no longer feels safe to do so because there are encampments and a lot of garbage in the area, said Vasconcelos. She's worried a services hub will fuel these issues.

The province said it has been meeting with Manitoba Housing tenants, staff and other community members to see how the space can best serve the neighbourhood, including elderly residents of the neighbouring Lawson Lodge.

A provincial spokesperson says their feedback is being used to find how to best use the 6,400-square-foot space as a social services hub, including what services should be offered.

Creating a community space

Janis Irvine, a co-ordinator with Community Mobilization Westman — a network of social service providers — says the social services hub could be a positive community gathering place to help people, from children to seniors, live safe and healthy lives.

Her organization, which works with 15 social services agencies to provide a range of care to high-risk and vulnerable community members, knows where gaps in service are in the city, she said.

The proposed hub could be a place to address issues like food security and safe and affordable housing, helping families and individuals, said Irvine.

"We're really ready to move forward with some solutions," she said.

She also said having several agencies located under one roof could offer better service while ensuring organizations are not overwhelmed.

When someone visits an agency seeking support, other underlying needs often surface, she said. A shared location allows agencies to respond more quickly and connect people with the help they need. 

"It's the human aspect, it's the energy, it's the creativity, it's the ideas," said Irvine.

"Many of us are looking at this from lots of different vantage points, and to share those vantage points together so that we have a collaborative, holistic plan for caring for our community."

Supports for seniors and children needed

Meanwhile, the Brandon Downtown Business Improvement Zone says there are a lot of conflicting views about what best suits the vacant space. BIZ executive director Emmy Sanderson says businesses in the core are concerned a hub could hurt their downtown revitalization efforts.

"We'd like to see something going in there that fits with that vibrancy … and the vision of a welcoming, vibrant, active, safe downtown," Sanderson said.

"Everybody I speak to wants the same vision in the end, wants the same result. We all want a healthy, safe, clean downtown. Where sometimes there's a little bit of differing opinions is, how do we get there?"

She worries that by focusing on the most vulnerable downtown residents, the hub could feed into challenges related to addiction and violence in the district. Depending on who's visiting the centre, it could create increased safety challenges or fears for people coming to the core, she said.

The BIZ is also working with Brandon Police to help develop a safety strategy for the downtown core.

Vasconcelos said she wants to see the space focused on seniors or providing additional day care services in the core.

She worries their needs are being overshadowed.

"There needs to be a real move towards revitalizing downtown Brandon and not just making it a place where people can access supports," she said.

An expression of interest is expected soon, inviting agencies to apply for space in the proposed hub.