Housing & Income
Please note our Housing Programs do not provide direct housing.
We have three programs that provide supports with housing and income:
- The HOMES Program supports all women and gender diverse people with homelessness, housing and income;
- More Than Four Walls is a Housing First program that supports all women and genderdiverse people and their families who are experiencing homelessness;
- The Housing Reintegration Program helps women and gender diverse people while they are still in correctional institutions, to assist them with finding and maintaining permanent housing and reintegrating into community upon their release.
Our goal is to help participants find and maintain stable housing and income by building positive partnerships between participants and service providers. We provide information, support and encouragement to navigate housing and income systems, and we help participants advocate for themselves where possible.
If you would like support to find or keep housing, or if you need help with an income or Employment & Income Assistance issue, please contact:
Phone: (204) 774-8975 ext. 262
Looking for info on our Transitional Housing?
Connecting The Circle
A gender-based strategy to end homelessness in Winnipeg.
-
Provide rental references
-
Provide priority or emergency housing
-
Provide financial support
-
Sign forms or agreements on your behalf
-
Make plans or decisions on your behalf
-
Offer direct support for issues other than housing and income security
-
Have control over government policy and regulation or other third party processes.
-
Encourage argumentative attitudes or actions
-
Treat all WCWRC staff, mentors, volunteers, and participants with dignity and respect
-
Keep in touch with your Housing worker regularly via phone, texting, email, message board, etc.
-
Keep your appointments to the best of your abilities
-
Take an active role in choices and decisions that affect you in the HOMES program
-
Follow through on the plans you make with your Housing worker
-
Fill out applications and forms to the best of your ability
-
Make the necessary phone calls that can help your case move forward depending on your situation (EIA worker, potential landlords, etc.)
-
Be prepared to go view suites, phone rental listings, make appointments and fill out rental applications at rental units
-
Provide honest feedback about your experience with the program.
The H.O.M.E.S. Program
We assist women, gender diverse people, & their families with homelessness, housing, eviction prevention and income.
We are a one-stop-shop for your housing and income needs. We cannot guarantee a timeframe for you to be housed. The more work you are putting in, the more likely you are to find something.
Examples of the support we provide are:
- Help with ID, paperwork, & housing applications
- Support with apartment searches
- Referrals to other services
- Assistance with EIA, EI, CPP, CCB applications etc.
- Help with budgeting & attending EIA meetings
- Mediation with landlords & support at RTB hearings
- Education on tenant/landlord rights & responsibilities
More Than Four Walls
The More Than Four Walls Housing First Program assists all women and gender diverse people, and their families, who are currently experiencing homelessness, to find and maintain permanent and stable housing. Once housed, we provide additional supports and services as needed based on the individual’s goals, through Intense Case Management. This requires weekly check-ins with the case worker.
Who is eligible?
- Women and gender diverse people who have been experiencing homelessness for at least 6 months in the past year, or 18+ months in the past 3 years. This includes any type of homelessness, including couch surfing and living unsheltered
- Indigenous people
- Women and gender diverse people who are pregnant or have dependents who are children
- Women and gender diverse people who are disconnected from other supports, including kin connections
- Have mental health, disability, or substance use concerns
You only need to meet one of these criteria to qualify.
How do you apply?
If you are fit under our eligibility criteria, make an appointment for a Sharing Conversation with our Peer Support Worker or another Naatamooskakowin Access Point.
Once you complete your Sharing Conversation, Naatamooskakowin staff will identify a program that matches what the person is looking for and have a vacancy to start working with them.
Once matched with a Housing First Program that you want to work with, a “warm handoff” is arranged between you and the Program.
While you wait for a match, we can provide you with other resources.
To book a Sharing Conversation, please call our Peer Support Worker: 204-774-8975 ext 237
For more information on Naatamooskakowin, please check out their website: https://endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca/coordinated-access/
Reintegration Support
A Reintegration Case Worker works with women and gender diverse folks who are exiting correctional institutions to assist them with finding and maintaining permanent housing, reintegrating into community upon their release through an Intensive Case Management approach.
Participants are referred to the program while incarcerated, through Correctional Institutions, Naatamooskakowin, Probation, or via self-referral; staff works with them to develop coordinated case plans that prioritize income support (e.g. working with EIA) and permanent housing solutions prior to release, whenever possible.
Through Housing Reintegration Supports, we help women and gender diverse people with:
- Housing searches, completing applications, and securing appropriate financial supports and housing-related documentation
- Developing and implementing a culturally appropriate and client-centered case management process, following participants for up to one year post-release to ensure continuity of care
- Facilitating referrals to community resources such as counseling services, furniture depots, addiction supports, and employment/education programming
- Home visits with housed participants to provide ongoing support, build trust, answer questions, and help navigate systems
- Advocating with and on behalf of participants with landlords, probation officers, EIA, and other systems to resolve issues and remove barriers to stability.
In line with the Housing First model, we believe that:
- Housing is a basic human right.
- Individuals experiencing homelessness should be moved into safe, permanent housing as soon as possible.
- Choice is important when finding housing.
- Housing should not depend on treatment status.
- Individuals are better able to deal with complex life challenges when they have a safe place to live.
- It is important to provide ongoing support for participants in order to maintain housing and increase self-sufficiency.
“[More Than 4 Walls] is set to be a leader and model, being an exemplar of a program that works imaginatively and intelligently for their participants.”