Housing project opens isolation spaces for those experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg

CTV National News: Homeless in a pandemic Advocates are calling for more to be done to help those experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. Heather Butts has more.

TORONTO — On the streets of Winnipeg, where those who are homeless often need to stay together for safety or warmth, more people are presenting with symptoms of COVID-19.

And since mid-April, many of the sick have been coming to a new facility run by the Main Street Project.

“This is an isolation building for people who are in absolute homelessness, who have been taken for testing [for COVID-19] and now need to isolate,” Rick Lees, executive director of the project, told CTV News.

In the past three weeks, around 80 people have shown up to shelter and self-isolate in the building -- most coming directly from emergency rooms across the city.

The Main Street Project has been working to help get vulnerable people back on their feet and towards housing since 1972, but since the pandemic struck, the work has gotten even more challenging. Physical distancing requirements mean more space is needed to safely shelter individuals.

With a mixture of government funding and donations from private business, an empty public housing building, slated for sale, was transformed into 39 isolation units to make up their new facility.

The need for facilities to help the homeless during this pandemic was identified early on. It was apparent quickly that testing and tracing for COVID-19 would be difficult for those living on the streets, and that being on the move outdoors and unable to isolate would leave this population at a particular risk for contracting the virus. Some major U.S. cities are reporting massive spikes of COVID-19 on the streets and in shelters.

While the clients inside Main Street Project’s isolation facility aren’t under a strict lockdown, staff must keep them inside. Meals are provided, and nurses do daily health checks.

One man staying inside the facility is dealing with COVID-19 while trying to work through his issues with drugs.

He told CTV News he was a recovering meth user.

“After I tried it once, I shot up almost every day for a year,” he said. “And then I quit for six months.”

As he struggles against the virus, he is also trying to hold out against temptation.

Those staying inside the facility can get access to methadone and other drugs if they are addicted, as part of the facility’s work to keep the patients safe and monitor their health.

“We’re not here to tell people to stop using,” said Lees. “We are here to assist them to use safely and effectively, but the priority here is to be isolated, because you could be COVID positive.”

In Canada, many larger cities have been housing the homeless in hotels, but this new model of isolation is seen as the way forward, particularly as the organization is still working to find their clients more permanent housing.

"The best protection, really the only true protection [from COVID-19], is a home," Tim Richter, with the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness told CTV News.

Main Street Project isn’t stopping with one new building either. They are working on an emergency five-week renovation of an old commercial building, according to an update on their website from May 1. To complete the project, the federal government approved an advancement on $2 million that was already set to go to the Main Street Project later in the year.

The aim is to have a 120-bed facility open by the end of May.