Organization aiming to end Winnipeg homelessness releases strategic plan

A homeless camp in Winnipeg in an undated image. (File photo)

A charitable organization looking to end chronic homelessness in Winnipeg released a five-year strategic plan on Thursday to tackle the issue.

End Homelessness Winnipeg (EHW), founded in 2015, brings together the homelessness-serving sector to provide leadership, support and coordination to end homelessness in the city.

“The critical underlying theme that we are focusing on over the next five years, and forever, is we want to be rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing,” said Jackie Hunt, senior director of strategy and impact for EHW.

Hunt said the organization has been Indigenous-led since 2018, adding that there is an over-representation of the Indigenous population in the city’s homeless demographic.

The underlying theme of the strategic plan is followed with four strategic priorities, including role clarity and relevance, such as developing an advocacy roadmap and evaluating the organization’s governance model.

“We try and bring community partners together to try and solve some of these issues as efficiently as we can,” said Hunt, adding that the group does a range of tasks ranging from advocacy work to research to offering support.

Other strategic priorities include creating a “culture of well-being” across the sector by focusing on resource sharing and training, as well as building trust and creating transparency through communications.

“We want to make sure that we’re building trust with our community partners, our government, and our funders, to make sure that we’re able to work really collaboratively,” she said.

Another identified priority is adaptability and reciprocity, with goals including developing engagement strategies and exploring sustainable funding mechanisms.

All four strategic priorities include a list of “key actions” for the next five years.

“We all probably know somebody who has experienced or is experiencing homelessness,” said Hunt.

“It’s everybody’s job to take care of everybody, and we all have to work together on this.”

For more details, EHW’s five-year strategic plan can be viewed here.