Advocates say Velma's House falling short on mandate to provide 24/7 safe space for women in Winnipeg

More than three years after it opened, Winnipeg's only designated 24/7 safe space for vulnerable and exploited women has not yet fulfilled its mandate of providing around-the-clock service, advocates say.

Velma's House opened in April 2021, intended to offer 24/7 support to help women and two-spirit people experiencing intimate partner violence and street violence.

But it's struggled to offer those services full-time.

"We're going to see more victims of violence, more women going missing … women dying of hypothermia because they can't access a safe place," said Isabel Daniels, an MMIWG2S advocate who works with vulnerable women.

She helped create the model that became Velma's House, named for the late Velma Ovris, an elder who worked closely with sexually exploited women.

Daniels became the program co-ordinator when Velma's House opened, but left soon after. She says she felt the program was straying from the concept she had envisioned and no longer paid tribute to Orvis.

More than two years later, she thinks the program is worse off than when she left.

Currently, the safe space is open 24 hours from Tuesday to Friday — on Monday and Saturday, it's open from 8 a.m. to midnight, and it's not open at all on Sunday.

Dodie Jordaan, the executive director of Ka Ni Kanichihk, acknowledges the problem, but says the limited hours are due to staffing shortages.

In order to operate safely, Velma's House needs five on-site staff each shift. Without that, the program must either reduce the number of women it is able to help or close services.

"Our goal is always to be open 24/7. That's the vision, that's the goal, that's the intent," she said in an interview.

Ka Ni Kanichihk is looking to implement new recruitment strategies to help fill the gaps in staffing, said Jordaan.

'They never seem to be open'

Some advocates say women in precarious situations are choosing not to go to shelters because of safety concerns.

Melissa Robinson, the co-founder of Morgan's Warriors — an outreach group named in honour of her cousin Morgan Harris — said women face an alarming lack of safety in co-ed shared spaces.

She hoped Velma's House would help alleviate that problem, but "it's never been reality," she said.

She said she and her husband, George Robinson, have stopped contacting Velma's House for support. 

"They never seem to be open," said Melissa Robinson, who said she tried without success to get a woman into the program, at first because of unanswered calls.

George Robinson says when he did get through, he was told to call back.

Velma's House received $6.9 million in federal funding in 2022. It also got a $1.5 million boost from the province and $600,000 from TD Bank Group in 2023.

Jordaan said Velma's House's annual budget is $3.25 million, which includes hiring staff to run a crisis line that will begin in 2025, the purchase of a van to transport participants and repairs to their building. 

George Robinson says the government funding should be used to better services at Velma's House, but he hasn't seen any improvements. 

George said he's tired of seeing a reactionary approach to helping vulnerable women. 

Too many working in the system are "waiting for somebody to die before they step into place," he said.

Jordaan agreed more can be done with funding, but said she wants to hear from community members about how services can be better implemented.

Community input 'shut down': advocate

Daniels says after she left Velma's House, community members and employees began to echo her concerns of an unwillingness to listen by Ka Ni Kanichihk. 

Together, Daniels says she, the community members and the employees wrote personal statements asking for change and suggested how those changes could be implemented. 

Daniels showed CBC the letters, which contain concerns about the program, including a lack of "actual support, advocacy and benefits to the participants."

Another claims input from community members was "shut down rather quickly." 

She sent the letters to provincial officials, including Housing Minister Bernadette Smith and Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

Daniels says she also independently emailed the two ministers, both of whom have previously advocated for MMIWG2S supports, and was heartbroken when she didn't get a response.

"To be ignored by other Indigenous women about murdered and missing Indigenous women is something that I can't wrap my head around," said Daniels.

"If our unsheltered people are not being heard by our own people, then they're definitely not being heard by anybody else."

CBC contacted the ministers for comment and hadn't received a response from Smith's office prior to deadline. 

Fontaine's office said in a statement she and her team are aware of concerns around Velma's House. It did not say if anything was being done to address the concerns, but said the NDP government "knows the value of having accessible safe places for women, girls, and two-spirit people." 

Jordaan says Velma's House wants to hear from people who have concerns.

"We want the community to tell us if they're seeing challenges," she said. "They are our relatives, so we need to hear from our relatives on what they see as challenges, what they want us to be doing, where we should be making improvements."

New location coming

Daniels's concerns about Velma's House hit a tipping point earlier this year when its Bannatyne Avenue building went up for sale, with plans to relocate the shelter.

With the current location equipped with bedrooms, showers, laundry facilities and a kitchen, Daniels finds the move hard to understand.

Jordaan says Velma's House is moving to accommodate a growing need. Since the beginning of this year, it's seen roughly 33,000 visits, but the current location only allows 15 women inside at a time, forcing most to wait outside the building before they can come inside for services. 

Ka Ni Kanichihk said once the current building is sold, it will start an almost two-year renovation on a new location. In the meantime, Velma's House will move its services temporarily to 92 Higgins Ave., in the Point Douglas area.

The organization would not confirm the new location, but said it will also house other Ka Ni Kanichihk-run programs, including its sexual wellness lodge and HIV testing clinic.

Having those services in one place will help alleviate staffing shortages and allow Velma's House to help more than 15 women at a time, said Jordaan.

The temporary space will be renovated to provide basic needs, but it is unclear what will be available before the new, more permanent space is ready.

But Jordann couldn't say when services at Velma's House will be offered 24/7.