Siloam Mission, 300 Princess Street (HANDOUT)
Siloam Mission is getting more beds and additional resources to help the homeless thanks to $3 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments.
The funding, announced Monday, will support Siloam Mission’s Make Room campaign, which aims to add more than 54,300 square feet of additional shelter, programming and administrative space to its current location in Winnipeg’s inner city.
The expansion will create approximately 50 new overnight shelter beds, including up to 33 dedicated beds for women, and new space for Siloam’s health services, administrative and volunteer resource areas, according to a release from the province.
“Everyone deserves access to a safe place to stay and ensuring housing for Manitoba’s most vulnerable populations is a priority for our government,” said Manitoba’s Families Minister Scott Fielding, in the release. “This investment will enable Siloam Mission to support more people as they find stability to get back on their feet and specifically help women through the emphasis on dedicated beds.”
The money—$2 million in provincial funding and another $1 million coming through the federal-provincial Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) agreement—will help create a service-based campus at the mission with a new two-storey link between the existing shelter building at 300 Princess St. and the soon-to-be completed 400-seat dining area at 303 Stanley Ave.
“Today is a great day for Siloam Mission,” said Jim Bell, Siloam Mission’s chief executive officer, in the release. “With the government’s investment, we will have surpassed our 70 per cent fundraising benchmark and will be able to put a shovel in the ground to start construction of the new link building this fall. This expansion will ‘make room’ so that no one is turned away who needs a bed and women will have a private area so they feel safe.”
–Staff
