New overnight safe space for youth in Winnipeg’s North End aims to offer ‘a place to belong’

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Peggy

A colourful and vibrant mural greets visitors inside Winnipeg’s newest safe space for youth.

Brandy Bobier hopes the front-and-centre splash of pop art serves to both welcome and catch the eye of anyone who enters Ombishkaawak Migiziwak, which in Anishinaabemowin means Rising Eagles.

Bobier, who is the director and chief executive officer of Community Helpers Unite — a social enterprise that works to help feed people in the North End — is overseeing the new overnight safe space at the corner of Jarvis Avenue and McGregor Street.

Her hope is that the facility, which officially opens in January but had a soft opening Thursday night, serves as a “good, progressive space that really helps youth find a place to belong and a place to enjoy themselves.”

Bobier says growing up in the North End, she always thought youth needed a place where they could feel welcome and not be judged by others.

That’s what she’s now helping build at Rising Eagles, which will offer young people ages 12 to 18 the “resources that they’re asking for to thrive and to build their independence capacity on their own,” she said.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to provide a welcoming space where youth can just be themselves and learn through caring, lateral kindness and lateral empathy how to advocate for themselves in a good way, and give them extra space to grow.”

It can be hard for young people in the North End to find such places, Bobier said, noting that between the North End and Point Douglas neighbourhoods, there’s only one other safe space for youth — Ndinawe, a 24/7 drop-in at Tina’s Safe House on Selkirk Avenue.

“We literally could create 10 of these spaces between all of us, and there still wouldn’t be enough,” she said.

Her focal point with Community Helpers Unite is food insecurity, and ensuring that youth who come from low-income homes or are at-risk have food available is also at the heart of Rising Eagles.

“Everyone wants to talk these days about meeting people where they’re at and … housing-first models, and you know, it’s wild because I just keep seeing that you can’t deal with those things if you’re hungry,” Bobier said.

“So really, it just all comes back to food, and if we can make sure people are fed then they can work on everything else.”

A door with information and hours of operation marked on it. — Youth ages 12 to 18 are welcome at Rising Eagles, on the corner of Jarvis Avenue and McGregor Street. (Rudi Pawlychyn/CBC)

Rising Eagles also plans to offer programming such as culturally appropriate arts and crafts, healthy relationship workshops, cooking classes, and guest speakers, with funding for the next three years through a federal program administered by the City of Winnipeg.

Bobier said it’s one of 11 locations in the city getting federal assistance through the Building Safer Communities Fund, which aims to address gun and gang violence by funding community-led projects that tackle its root causes.

“I’m really hoping that youth will come here and find that independence that they seek, so that they’re not reaching out to gangs to find that belonging,” Bobier said.

Rising Eagles is letting youth know about the safe space, which is open 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Thursday to Sunday, through targeted Facebook and Instagram ads, as well as working with other agencies to get the word out.

“That’s the cool thing about this space is … we’re bringing the community helpers together. So we have over two dozen agencies that we work with, like other non-profits — mostly grassroots non-profits — but also registered charities that are doing work in this community already,” she said.

Rising Eagles has applied for additional funding, with the goal of being able to open seven nights a week.