Indigenous community hub, featuring free grocery store, to be created in central Winnipeg

Posted on February 21, 2025 by Peggy

A warehouse in central Winnipeg is under renovation to become home to an Indigenous community hub that will include drop-in space, supports and services, food programs and a free grocery store.

“Food insecurity has long been a challenge for families here in Winnipeg and in particular the Indigenous community,” Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata executive director Tammy Christensen said at a news conference on Friday.

“We’re super excited about this opportunity for this beautiful building to really become a strong hub for community members and really help people where they’re at, and help move them forward.”

The 30,000-square-foot site on Notre Dame Avenue, between Kate and Lydia streets, has been given the name Asihcikan — a Cree–Ojibwe word that means “to put out an offering.”

An artist drawing of a renovated space in a warehouse — A conceptual image shows what part of Asihcikan will look like. (Rachid Nahli/Radio-Canada)

The development of the building is a collaboration between the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and Harvest Manitoba.

It will also feature training and education programs, community kitchens for cooking classes and laundry facilities.

“But the centrepiece of this project is really going to be a grocery-style food bank led and operated by the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and supported by Harvest,” said Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba.

The store will provide “dignified access to food” for people facing struggles in life, he said. It will allow people to select the items they need for themselves or their families, instead of being provided with a pre-packaged food hamper.

It’s been an aim of Harvest Manitoba to have more of its food-security work be Indigenous led “and to us, there was no better partner,” Barletta said.

The Asihcikan site is actually two linked buildings, formerly home to Kelsey Sportswear Ltd., at 563-567 Notre Dame.

Much of it is undergoing a $14-million renovation, with plans for Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre to move in sometime in early 2026.

The inside of a gutted warehouse — The Asihcikan space is currently a $14-million construction and renovation project. (Rachid Nahli/Radio-Canada)

Harvest Manitoba has already moved into part of the main floor of 567 Notre Dame, where they are operating the Meals2Go program that provides meal kits to 5,000 students every week during the school year.

The partnership was seeded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand surged for the services the agencies provide, Barletta said.

Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata was running a home nutrition and learning pilot program, which provided families with fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and more on a weekly basis. As many as 300 hampers were being delivered every day, but government funding dried up in 2022.

“We knew that was going to leave thousands of families, vulnerable families, without access to reliable food, and we knew that was going to put some new burdens on Harvest and new burden on [Ma Mawi],” Barletta said.

“We got to talking,” Christensen said. “And that’s what led to the concept of this community hub.”

It will also be a much-needed social hub, she said.

A woman stands near boxes and pallets — Christensen stands near some of the boxes for Harvest Manitoba’s Meals2Go program, which is already operating from a space in the new building. (Rachid Nahli/Radio-Canada)

“A lot of families, since the pandemic, have experienced a lot of disconnect, a lot of isolation. This is really about creating spaces where families can come and connect with one another, connect to other resources and really start building that path out of poverty,” Christensen said.

“The idea is that they’ll come in, they’ll connect with our intake workers, and we’ll learn a lot about who they are, what their families needs are, and we’ll have a whole range of programming and resources.”

About $9 million of the funding for the project has come from several sources, such as the federal and Manitoba governments, the Winnipeg Foundation, United Way and Cargill, Christensen said.

The site’s transformation “will create a new community-of-caring centre right here in the centre of Winnipeg,” said Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, the Liberal MP for St. Boniface-St. Vital.