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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4312905_web1_260126-NEWRC-00262.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Cynthia Drebot, executive director of the North End Women\u2019s Centre.<\/p>\n
The 15-unit West Broadway block is expected to be finished by the end of the month. Smith said she expects all units to be occupied shortly after.<\/p>\n
The other housing project began accepting residents to its 11 units earlier this year. The downtown Winnipeg apartment was finished in January.<\/p>\n
Tenants can stay as long as two years. They\u2019ll pay rent based on their income \u2014 about 30 per cent \u2014 and will receive services such as counselling and peer support groups.<\/p>\n
Social service agencies Family Dynamics, Ikwe Widdjiitiwin and New Journey Housing are providing the services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis (housing) allows us \u2014 when women and children are stable and ready \u2014 to transition from a shelter,\u201d said Kimberly Fontaine, executive director of Ikwe Widdjiitiwin, an Indigenous crisis shelter for survivors of gender-based violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows us to make more beds available, to keep doing that life-saving work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need is great, noted Cynthia Drebot, executive director of the North End Women\u2019s Centre.<\/p>\n
The Selkirk Avenue facility sees between 120 and 150 people daily. Of those, a \u201cgood couple of dozen\u201d women are homeless and may be seeking a spot in a shelter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so many challenges when finding housing, in general, in Winnipeg right now, with a lack of deeply affordable and social housing,\u201d Drebot said. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t able to move out of the shelters sometimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr if they do move out of the shelter, it\u2019s very difficult for them to find a place to stay or continue to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women often don\u2019t feel comfortable going to Winnipeg\u2019s largest homeless shelters. They may have experienced violence from men, or they\u2019ve felt fearful during their stays, Drebot said.<\/p>\n
A 2025 City of Winnipeg housing needs report noted women are more likely to experience \u201chidden homelessness,\u201d where they couch-surf or stay in unsafe living conditions.<\/p>\n
Homeless mothers often have children apprehended by Child and Family Services, Drebot said. It\u2019s a trend she\u2019s seen at the North End Women\u2019s Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in this vicious cycle right now because we don\u2019t have enough\u2026 gender-based violence shelters for women to go to with their children to keep themselves and their kids safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, in some format or another, they end up having their kids removed\u2026 because they\u2019re judged for the fact that they haven\u2019t been able to get their kids to a place of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
She called more transitional housing \u201csuper, super important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg\u2019s 2025 housing needs assessment also called for more safe and culturally responsive transitional housing for women.<\/p>\n
Those without a space to go may stay at home and experience more abuse, Smith said.<\/p>\n
Tenants entering the two housing facilities will meet with an intake co-ordinator, who will determine what supports are needed.<\/p>\n
Both buildings have counselling offices. The downtown site, called Standing Eagle, has a two-metre-high fence around its perimeter. Both spaces require key fob access, have double doors at exits and are equipped with security cameras.<\/p>\n
There\u2019ll be on-site security, said Sahla Mitchell, director of real estate development advancement for The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp.<\/p>\n
The UWCRC owns both buildings. Its portfolio is typically made up of mixed-use residences and is currently constructing the largest women\u2019s shelter in Manitoba, Mitchell said. She declined to share further details Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think government recognized that this is an issue \u2014 that gender-based violence is not going anywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be a continuous issue, so we do need to make sure there\u2019s placements.\u201d<\/p>\n
All three levels of government advanced money for the two residences. Roughly $3.4 million came from Ottawa; the province contributed about $4 million.<\/p>\n
The West Broadway apartment, called Morning Light, is four storeys and had a construction budget of $9.5 million. The Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp. contributed $2.25 million, the most from a single entity, though all levels of government participated.<\/p>\n
Standing Eagle is five storeys, with a $10.2-million construction budget. Of that, $6.5 million was covered through Winnipeg\u2019s portion of Ottawa\u2019s Rapid Housing Initiative fund. Grants and government money largely pay the rest.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Housing will spend $114,000 annually on rent supplements. It\u2019s committed up to $2.25 million in capital funding and has conditionally approved annual operating supports, including rent supplements and support service funding, Smith said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Both projects target Indigenous and newcomer women.<\/p>\n
Approximately 61 per cent of Indigenous women face intimate partner violence, compared to 44 per cent of non-Indigenous women, Statistics Canada found in 2018.<\/p>\n
Morning Light is all electric, and Standard Eagle was designed to be energy efficient. Suites range from studios to three-bedrooms.<\/p>\n
Women housed in Morning Light and Standing Eagle won\u2019t be counted in the provincial government\u2019s Your Way Home strategy, which sets a goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2031, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n
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Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle 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
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