Winnipeg's Red Road Lodge: A homegrown solution to homelessness

Delegates to a national conference on homelessness in Winnipegwill tour the Red Road Lodge, a once-notorious Main Street hotel that's been converted into transitional housing.

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Director Beverly Burkard hopes people attending the conference, who will tour the facility on Wednesday,can see that there are creative solutions to homelessness.

Unlike other transitional housing facilities in the city, Burkard says the Red Road Lodge didn't cost millions of dollars to build or years to develop.

"We started by just closing the bar and removing the VLTs, then we opened the doors," she said.

The 44-bed facility offers roomstopeople recovering from addictions and mental health issues, as well as providing programming for people on the street.

Once people get back on their feet, the goal is to find them permanent housing elsewhere.

It hasn't been without challenges, however.

"We've struggled with funding," Burkard said.

In 2012, the loss of a federal grant caused the Red Road Lodge to temporarily close part of the facility. In 2013, the province proposed moving the clients into a Manitoba Housing complex.

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Funding struggles aside, Burkardsays the Red Road model could easily transform other Main Street hotels into housing for the city's most vulnerable.

The 47th National Congress on Housing and Homelessness runs untilMay 1 at the Radisson Hotel in the city's downtown.

Conference delegates will also visit the Main Street Project,an emergency shelter and detoxification centre, as part of Wednesday's tour.