Renewal Coorporation seeks Ways to Revitalize Winnipeg North End

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 15 April 2000

WINNIPEG, Man.--Garry Loewen has watched cities across the U.S. successfully revitalize their crumbling interiors over the years. Now, he's helping import that same model of community renewal to Winnipeg's North End.

"This model says you can't renew a community by a whole bunch of uncoordinated, unintegrated, stand-alone initiatives," says Loewen.

He says good renewal needs an umbrella organization made up of local people involved in research, planning, coordination and more. That's the role of the North End Community Renewal Corporation, for which Loewen serves as interim executive director, as part of his work with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba.

It was founded as a corporation in 1998 by a coalition of Winnipeg community organizations, including MCC. Through community consultation the corporation identified four priorities to work on for the neighborhood's revitalization: safety, housing, economic and employment development, and cultural diversity. The fourth priority involves promoting the North End's cultural diversity and bringing more cultural harmony to the area.

The North End is home to approximately 38,000 people, many of them of Aboriginal, Polish, Ukrainian, and Filipino background. Over half the households exist below the poverty line. And unemployment soars above the city average.

Loewen says the renewal corporation won't be real for most people until they see housing improved, streets safer, and new businesses opened. And yet 120 people came to its annual general meeting to hear the corporation's vision. And more than 200 North End residents and organizations have signed on as members.

"It's just been amazing to me how ready the community is to work with us on this," says Loewen, who comes into this initiative with a background both in business and pastoral work.

When Iona Patterson moved into the North End two years ago, after having lived there in the past, she was determined to help make it a better place to live. "I wanted to do something to change it instead of sit around and complain about how bad it is," she says.

She says she also wanted to teach her two children, ages six and 20 months, to do good and help others. So she represents the residential sector on the renewal corporation's board. The board also comprises representatives from business, aboriginal organizations, labor and others.

Patterson says a lot of people living in the area would like to help better it but have become conditioned to minding their own business and staying uninvolved. "Somebody needs to start doing something about this area and get the community involved," she says.

Loewen says the renewal corporation is trying to work with other existing community organizations to implement projects, but will do its own programming where needed. A number of people, like Loewen, give pieces of their work time to the corporation. As well, two people work there full-time in business and employment development.

So far, a number of homes are being renovated for low income people to purchase or rent to own. As well, some job training is underway, especially linked to the housing renovations. On the safety side, the corporation has held a number of safety conferences and workshops. It's also involved with community policing initiatives.

And it's looking to host a "Taste of the North End" festival this summer. "We're thinking that could be a way to celebrate the different cultures of the North End," says Loewen.

Sylvia Todaschuk runs a gift boutique just across the street from the corporation's new offices on Selkirk Avenue. As president of the Selkirk Avenue Business Improvement Zone, she's vitally concerned about the health of this much boarded up business strip.

She says it's too soon to say whether the renewal corporation is the right answer to the area's problems. "I have to see outcomes," says Todaschuk, who also sits on the board. "They can't make miracles over night.

"I'm hoping and praying it is definitely the right thing to do."

Loewen agrees there's no magical solution to the North End's problems. He says the renewal corporation still needs to convince government, business and other sectors to invest in the area. But he says there's no choice but to make it work. "It's absolutely imperative. What's the alternative?"

He says the first priority is to arrest the decline, then turn around the area. Looking at the success stories south of the border, he sees no reason why it should be different here.

"There is no God-ordained reason why this place has to be poor, violent and filled with social problems."

For information specific to MCC Manitoba and their programs, MCC Manitoba maintains a web site at http://www.mccm.mb.ca for all Manitoba churches and interested individuals.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org