
Main Street Project – Housing Profile
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Main Street Project also operates several housing projects to help their community in need. The total number of people housed across Main Street Project housing programs are 82. Main Street Project has several housing programs including The Bell and The Mainstay. Main Street Project provided 59,659 last year, administered 65, 520 harm reduction supplies/services and administered 9,162 medications at The Bell, as well as 1,154 at The Mainstay.
For over 10 years, The Bell Hotel has served as a permanent residence for those with years of experience living unsheltered and are engaged in substance use and/or experience mental illness. The historic project is a result of a partnership between Main Street Project, CentreVenture, CMHA, and the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corporation. More than 50% of tenants who moved into the Bell in 2011 are still residences today. Many others have successfully transitioned into permanent housing in the community or other supported living programs such as personal care and adult group homes. The average length of stay at The Bell is five years. The 42 suites include a sleep area, kitchenette and bathroom as well as a shared laundry room on each floor, two gathering spaces on the main floor, and a cultural room for shared use. On site services at The Bell include 24-hour supportive staffing, medication administration, proactive access to safer drug use supplies and education, and casework including eviction prevention planning.
The Mainstay Residence is a supported transitional living environment that provides residents with a safe place to live while they work towards their self-directed goals. The majority of Mainstay tenants were previously living unsheltered. Using both harm-reduction and housing first philosophies, staff engage each individual towards self identified housing goals throughout the duration of their stay. On site support include medication administration and home care support, meals, resources and education to support safer substance use and safer sex, casework, tenant directed transition planning and action as well as Indigenous cultural and spiritual supports.
Main Street Project has also opened the new Furby Housing program. With the support of Your Way Home, the provincial strategy to end chronic homelessness in Manitoba, Main Street Project opened a newly renovated apartment block on Furby Street in partnership with Siloam Mission. Services at this new housing facility include a meal program, case management support, medication support, outdoor space, a common indoor space including a stove for group cooking and baking activities, cable TV, a computer and a phone.
