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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Lawrence, in his suite, where he does a lot of painting, lost everything during COVID and ended up homeless. He\u2019s since been housed by the province through Your Way Home.<\/p>\n
Lawrence, who didn\u2019t want his last name used, has now been housed for three months through the province\u2019s Your Way Home strategy, which aims to move roughly 700 Manitobans from encampments into stable housing.<\/p>\n
He is one of 235 people housed through the initiative since its launch in January 2025. The province says 85 per cent of them have remained in their homes.<\/p>\n
But adjusting to life indoors was not immediate. For the first six weeks after moving in, Lawrence would quietly leave and return to his encampment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the walls,\u201d he said, explaining why he kept going back. \u201cI was used to having a big tarp around me. I had a big encampment. It took me a year to build.\u201d<\/p>\n
That encampment was disrupted last August when police raided the Fort Douglas Park area following reports of suspected property crime. Lawrence was one of three men arrested after officers seized dozens of bike frames, tires and rims.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing was stolen,\u201d he said, adding he was released after spending several hours in custody. \u201cI was just helping out the people that were fixing bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A self-described workaholic, Lawrence said years of relentless labour contributed to the breakdown of his marriage in the early 2000s and eventually brought him to Winnipeg from Sagkeeng.<\/p>\n
Over the years, he worked as a drywall taper, concrete finisher and roofer, involved in construction at city hospitals and the National Microbiology Laboratory.<\/p>\n
The father of four \u2014 one biological child and three stepchildren \u2014 remembers taking out a $10,000 loan to pay for his eldest stepdaughter\u2019s wedding. Growing up as the youngest of 10 siblings, he said new clothes were a rarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything else was handed down,\u201d he said, explaining that he worked hard so his own children could have more than he did. \u201cI worked hard to buy them all the brand-name clothes and everything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homelessness, however, changed how he viewed money and community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happier without money than with it,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to worry about paying for this or for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Despite living outdoors, Lawrence maintained connections with outreach workers and, in 2021, became one of the first people to access services at the recently opened N\u2019Dinawemak \u2014 Our Relatives\u2019 Place.<\/p>\n Lawrence said homelessness became \u201ca blessing in disguise\u201d because it introduced him to a sense of community he hadn\u2019t expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know that homeless people were like that, that they helped each other, that they protected each other,\u201d he said. \u201cThat made me feel welcome, because I like to protect people myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite living outdoors, Lawrence maintained connections with outreach workers.<\/p>\n In 2021, he became one of the first people to access services at the recently opened N\u2019Dinawemak \u2014 Our Relatives\u2019 Place at 190 Disraeli Fwy., a now-former 200-bed shelter and drop-in centre that\u2019s closed for renovations as it transitions into a navigation centre for Winnipeg\u2019s homeless population. Over time, he began helping staff de-escalate disputes and support other residents.<\/p>\n Eventually, outreach workers approached him about housing. N\u2019Dinawemak runs the 24-7 supports at the building where he now lives.<\/p>\n \u201cIt never starts with an introduction to service,\u201d said Victor Mondaca, N\u2019Dinawemak\u2019s director of transitional and supportive housing. \u201cJust an introduction to who we are and what we\u2019re here to do, how we\u2019re trying to build that community and how we\u2019re trying to support the individual where they are in that process.<\/p>\n Lawrence said he agreed to check out the housing and, if he didn\u2019t like it, he\u2019d go back to the encampment.<\/p>\n Mondaca said Lawrence\u2019s adjustment period is an important lesson in understanding there\u2019s a level of give and take that needs to be navigated.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we gave him that ownership over certain aspects of what was going on here, we got him to stay,\u201d Mondaca said. \u201cIt\u2019s important, because in anything we do, we need to be partners in the care. We need to have the individual there to partner with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Mondaca, who has lived experience with homelessness and substance use, said many people lose their sense of autonomy while moving through systems and services.<\/p>\n The province\u2019s encampment strategy intends to give back autonomy, he says. There\u2019s a cultural approach \u2014 80 per cent of the building\u2019s residents are Indigenous \u2014 and no one is left behind.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Victor Mondaca says there\u2019s a level of give and take that needs to be navigated.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone wants to pause their care at any point, they\u2019re allowed to do that. They\u2019re allowed to walk away,\u201d he said, adding they can reconvene again in the future.<\/p>\n As Mondaca spoke to the Free Press, members of his team were working with someone who arrived hoping to get off the street. Mondaca said they had no prior contact with the individual.<\/p>\n He said he feels word of mouth plays an integral role in a system where there is a genuine sense of caring.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it the Moccasin Telegraph,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cAs we grow our community, the word spreads within that community.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawrence said he truly settled into his new home once he began painting the walls. An artist since the age of nine, his murals now adorn parts of the building, including a sprawling second-floor piece depicting the effects of colonialism on Indigenous homelands beneath a towering thunderbird.<\/p>\n \u201cIt represents the great spirit, and he\u2019s mad because we left our culture behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Unlike some who struggle with guilt after leaving encampments behind, Lawrence said his former neighbours celebrated his move indoors.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were happy for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He still remembers encampment life fondly \u2014 sharing meals, listening to music and talking around campfires late into the night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very laid back and relaxed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Even Winnipeg winters did not drive him indoors. Lawrence lived outside year-round, relying on a portable heater that sometimes made his tent too warm.<\/p>\n The building where he now lives does not require residents to be sober before moving in. Despite serving people who may still be actively using substances, it appeared to be a well-maintained, clean and welcoming place.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n The province\u2019s encampment strategy intends to give autonomy back to individuals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe building is respected,\u201d Mondaca said. \u201cThe community is respected.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawrence said he no longer drinks alcohol, though he has struggled with substance use for decades. He credits crystal meth with helping him stop using crack cocaine, while wraparound support programs \u2014 including Alcoholics Anonymous meetings offered where he lives now \u2014 are helping him remain clean from methamphetamine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all complex as humans, some with more wins, some with more losses,\u201d Mondaca said. \u201cBut we all deserve the same type of love, respect and dignity throughout the entire process.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawrence is thinking about earning a living.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to see if I can open my interior business, see if I can get some work out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n After that, he hopes to retire back home in Sagkeeng, where a piece of family land has been for generations.<\/p>\n For a man who spent nearly five years without a permanent address, it\u2019s a future that once seemed impossible to imagine.<\/p>\n scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Scott Billeck Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade\u2019s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.\u00a0 Read more about Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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