Transitional Housing
In the fall of 2020, in times of most uncertainty, we embarked on our first ever direct housing project, an ambitious project that finally opened to tenants in the spring of 2024. With the support of generous funding from so many funders and private donors, we are proud to host a 16-unit apartment building in the heart of the West End. Converted from a historic 113-year-old building, these units were purpose built for women, gender diverse folks, and children who are exiting situations of violence.
For 20 years, West Central Women’s Resource Centre has been supporting women and families escaping gender-based violence in our community. Winnipeg has some of the highest rates of intimate-partner violence in the country, and is ground zero for Murdered and Missing Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people. Alongside our partners in the sector, we have long been committed to doing everything we can to make sure women and gender diverse people are safe.
One of our biggest struggles over the years has been finding safe, affordable, and supportive transitional housing where people who have experienced violence can heal and work on their goals for the future. During the pandemic, it became even more evident that women and gender diverse people who are at the intersection of gender-based violence and housing insecurity are among the most vulnerable in our community, and their needs the most acute.
We believe that housing is a human right and know too well that many women and gender diverse people trying to get away or recover from violence have no choice but to stay with their abuser, couch-surf, stay in a family violence shelter, emergency shelters or even bus shelters just to survive. On average it takes 7 attempts for women to leave their abuser before they are successful, and we know that a lack of safe, affordable housing to land on is a key factor in this struggle.
The thoughtful design is embodied in the physically accessible spaces and the beautifully designed “playtrium,” attached to the laundry room, which is stocked with books, toys, and a sensory playground for kids to utilize while parents do laundry.
The building also hosts a Round Room for Indigenous cultural programming, offices for WCWRC’s administrative team, and on-site social supports for tenants. On the roof, a fully-fenced garden and play space brings open-air and greenspace to inner-city living. WCWRC has constructed a beautiful, centrally located home for tenants to rest and heal from violence.
This new housing offers safe and supportive apartments where women and gender diverse people can live for up to two years, giving them the time they need to stabilize and secure long-term housing with the support of our housing team. Rent is geared-to-income, the gold standard for affordability. Here, people don’t have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries for their families. The building is also accessible, including units built using universal design, and includes an elevator to ensure access for everyone.
This project was made possible with the generous support of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative through the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba, End Homelessness Winnipeg, Winnipeg Foundation, and a host of other foundations and private funders. We are incredibly grateful for the support of our donors, without whom this project would not have been possible.
Tenants are referred to housing in this building only through WCWRC’s staff team, or through our referral partners, who are the North End Women’s Centre, Ikwe Widdjiitiwin, Willow Place, Tunngasugit Inc., and Naatamooskakowin, the Coordinated Access program through End Homelessness Winnipeg.
For more information, please contact the Property Manager by emailing.