‘We can walk alongside them’: Klinic sexual assault crisis program helping thousands of Manitobans

Ashley Stewart, Hummingbird coordinator at Klinic, shares how the program supports survivors of sexual assault with care, advocacy and resources.

A community-based program is allowing Manitobans who experienced sexual assault to access a range of vital supports, resources and services under one roof.

Two years ago, Klinic Community Health launched Hummingbird – a sexual assault and intimate partner violence crisis program.

The program’s multidisciplinary team provides 24/7 crisis support, medical care and physical exams, counselling, support and advocacy work, as well as legal help and system navigation.

Before Hummingbird, Manitobans would often have to go to multiple organizations or health-care centres to access these supports, a process that can be overwhelming to survivors.

“It can be very difficult to navigate the system, to go to new locations and to tell another person what happened to you,” Hummingbird coordinator Ashley Stewart said in a Tuesday interview with Your Morning Winnipeg.

Stewart spoke about the program to mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which begins in April.

Stewart said those in the program have been grateful for the support and surprised that the program exists at all.

“They’ve been really happy to receive that care in (the) community and to get as much as they can in one location,” she said.

“And if there’s something that we don’t provide, then we really want to help that person navigate what that healing is, what they might need in a different location.”

According to Statistics Canada data, one in three women and one in six men in Canada will experience sexual violence in their lifetime.

Those numbers are not a surprise to those on the frontlines at Klinic.

In its first year, Hummingbird worked with about 800 Manitobans. In 2025, over 1,000 people came through the program.

Going forward, Stewart hopes more people in need of healing will know what’s available to them through Hummingbird.

“It’s just that one step in that healing journey for some people, to get that help, to tell someone what’s happened because we know a lot of times, people are holding that inside, sometimes for years,” she said.

“We want to be that space that someone can reach out and we can walk alongside them.”

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé