West End Winnipeggers map plans for 24-hour youth safe centre

Some people in Winnipegs West End want to set up an around-the-clock safe place for at-risk youth.

Jamil Mahmood, executive director of the Spence Neighbourhood Association, said community members want to make sure another death like Tina Fontaine's won't happen.

People feel guiltylike they haven't done enough and that they haven't done it sooner.They're tired of kind of phoning their councillor or phoning their MLAor MP,you know? They're tired of being inactive," he said.

"And now we're facing big tragedies that are happening."

The body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was found wrapped in a bag in the Red River in August.

• Tina Fontaine last seen leaving with man in West End, says friend

In the immediate days afterwards, police officers visited homes in the West End Ellice Avenue, Furby Street and Langside Street, a neighbourhood Fontaine used to frequent knocking on doors and engaging residents in the hopes of finding out more about the death of the girl.

A friend of Fontaine, who was one of the last people to see her, told CBC in September that the two girls were hanging out together on ElliceAvenue during the early morning hours ofAug. 9, when a man approached them and offered to pay Fontaine money to perform a sex act.

Katrina saidFontaine accepted the offer and told her she would be back in about 15 minutes.Fontaine never returned. Eight days later, her body was found in a bag in the river.

Safe place needed

Mahmood said a safe place is needed in the community for youth like Fontaine, who was a runaway, to go and feel safe, rather than spend their time on the streets.

Right nowit's happening in an informal way. Grandmothers and other volunteersare opening their doors to help those youthbut they don't have any support or resources.

I've been speaking to a ton of grandmas and parents and older community members who have been doing this for years informally, taking kids into their house, taking their kids' friends in, taking theirgrandkidsin, theirgrandkids' friends in,"Mahmoodsaid.

He wants an organized, around-the-clock location to be created for youth to go. To that end, volunteersmet Wednesdayat theMagnusEliasonRecreation Centre, onLangsideStreet,to discuss ways to get more people on boardand map out needs of the youthand the community.

The group plans tomeet again in November.

Mahmoodsaid nothing less than 24-hour facility is needed.

"You can provide kids with everything they need, you can provide them with fancy gyms and stuff like that, but if they don't feel safe coming there, they don't have connections or relationships there, then it's kind of an empty vessel," he said.

"So what we want to do is we want to make sure those relationships are strong."