by
Christine Burrows
 To
be hung, drawn, and quartered was a brutal medieval death, and
when I think of Point Douglas this phrase goes through my head.
Decades ago this neighbourhood was more or less ‘hung out’ by the
city by allowing brothels and booze cans to exist here, keeping
the sordid facts of life from downtown Winnipeg’s genteel view.
Then the Point was drawn by the railway a line that ran right down
the centre, dividing the Point into halves. For the final
barbarity we were ‘quartered’ by the Disraeli Freeway Bridge.
Such geographical
indignities would have completely destroyed most communities, but
not Point Douglas, the little community that can. We have so much
going for us, almost surrounded by the Red River, steeped in
history from pre- and post-colonial times, within walking distance
of downtown, and graced by many lovely old homes that with a
little TLC are beginning to show their faded beauty again.
What a fabulous
bunch of survivors live in the Point. Almost everybody you meet
has a story to tell. Many are stories of struggle and grim
determination. There are people here with very tough pasts and
challenging presents. Despite their difficult life journeys, I am
always delighted that when I pass people on our streets, I usually
exchange a smile and greeting and sometimes a big hug. It’s like
living in a village in the middle of a city.
All year round
residents are connected by our little magazine, The Point ,
which has continued publishing on a shoestring budget because of
the dedication and commitment of many local people.
Point Douglas is
amazing in its ability to maintain many vibrant community groups.
We have Norquay Community School, Norquay Community Centre, the
Point Douglas Residents Committee, the North Point Douglas Women’s
Centre, SISTARS, Eagle Wing Childcare, and the recently formed
Point Douglas Seniors Association. All of these draw volunteers
and membership from all parts of the neighbourhood.
What has convinced
me more than anything of the unity and determination of “the
little community that can” is the POWERLINE. A couple of years
ago three community women created what seemed an impossible dream.
The idea was simple: people would contact a central number or
email to report problems such as drugs, gangs, and domestic
disputes which previously individuals had been afraid to call in
to the authorities. If we took those concerns and anonymously
shared them with the police or the appropriate authority, could we
clean up the neighbourhood?
What the Powerline
showed was that working together our little community really
could! We closed crack shacks and booze cans and without throwing
many people in jail. Instead we borrowed a tried and true method
used by First Nations. We banished dealers, gang members, and
others who preyed on vulnerable members of our community.
Three years later,
we have landlords asking to be on the Powerline and really trying
to run healthy and clean apartments and rooming houses. We have
developed a positive relationship with the police and the various
departments of the city through 311. I am the ‘Powerline Lady’ and
I get calls from the farthest corners of the Point. Remember, if
there are problems anywhere in the neighbourhood, we are there for
you 24/7. (call 956-4090 or email
point.powerline@yahoo.com
)
I am so incredibly
proud of a community that has come together, overcome the dreadful
divisions that roads and railways have created, and overcome a
sleazy reputation, to become a unified, decent community that
welcomes diversity and differences. We are a community that
typifies the Canadian idea of cultural mosaic, where we enjoy our
differences and care about our neighbours, where we work together
for a common good.
With all of us
working together, Point Douglas really is the little community
that can and frankly I wouldn’t live anywhere else!
♦
top
by Mary and Valerie
Some people read the
‘important notice for our readers’ in the February issue and
concluded that the newsletter had died! Let us assure you that
The Point lives. As an organization we are making changes which
we hope will sustain the newsletter in years to come. We remain
committed to publishing six print issues per year and hope to obtain
funding to expand more of those issues to 16 pages. To find out what
is happening in the community and beyond between the print editions,
go to our associated website
www.pointdouglas.net or to the PDRC website
www.pointdouglas.ca.
Having said all that,
the continued existence of a grassroots organization like The
Point Community News will depend on increasing our base of
financial support. We want to thank the people in the community and
beyond our boundaries that have come forth with ideas and
encouragement. One of these supporters suggested we publish the
following appeal:
Do you love The Point?
If you look forward to your regular update on all things Point
Douglas, please consider making a donation. The Point runs on
volunteer hours, and those staff members who are paid receive modest
compensation. A small donation can go a long way to help ensure that
we are always here to help provide a voice for our thriving
community in print and on the web!
Cheques can be made out to The Point
Community News and sent to 1-116 Grove Street, Winnipeg MB R2W 3K8,
or leave a message at 771-6066 for more information.
♦
top
|
The
Historical Impact of Transportation and
Isolation |
By Shirley Kowalchuk
With diamond rings glittering on his fingers and
lapel, legendary “Diamond” Jim Coolican appeared in Winnipeg in fall
of 1881. He seemed to arrive in communities across Canada and the
U.S. just as real estate values were heating up in the heady advance
of railway construction through a community. With his slicked-down
haircut, expensive clothes, and fast talk, Coolican ran land
auctions and pressed hard anyone with cash to buy. “Hitch on to the
boom, boys,” he called, “while she is moving!”
By the early 1880s a new train bridge over the Red
River connected to Point Douglas and a double line of tracks slashed
through the once-quiet community, fanning out into huge marshalling
yards west of Main Street. Even today, Point Douglas has the curious
look and feel of a whole community superimposed by a long double
span of railway lines.
For Point Douglas, the railway became a near
impenetrable wall that isolated the community, which became known
simply as the beginning to “the North End”. Mostly working class,
the poor, and immigrants lived in this area. James Grey writes:
“Inevitably with the massive influx of new Canadians, who were
dumped and forgotten in the North End, monstrous social problems
soon plagued the town. …when the real estate boom collapsed in 1913,
hundreds of immigrant families become so utterly destitute the city
had to establish a welfare system of sorts to provide emergency
food…” These problems were largely hidden since many citizens never
travelled beyond the railway into Point Douglas.
At the same time, wealthier Point Douglas business
and political leaders (and policy makers) left the community and
became sheltered in new, luxurious residential developments. Left to
voice the concerns of disenfranchised citizens were community
activists and ministers like JS Woodsworth, whose Euclid Avenue
mission provided care to many.
As the complex social flux moderated in later
decades, nightmare traffic snarls once again were symptomatic of
more profound problems like suburban sprawl. Like the railway of
earlier days, the 1958 Disraeli Freeway sliced into the community
and noise, pollution, and high speed traffic further devalued the
area. Today, plans are in the works to replace the bridges and
include a separate span for cyclists and pedestrians. Until then,
the steep bridges without pedestrian guard rails and deeply fissured
sidewalks remain.
Unlike the times of the 1882 and 1956 transport
megaprojects, the spirit of community advocacy is now heard in Point
Douglas. Community groups are now helping residents move beyond the
effects of profound social isolation historically suffered by the
community. ♦
No reproduction in any form without permission of author, all rights
reserved.
top
By Heather Geddie
My son and I
recently knocked on every door in North and South Point Douglas
while conducting a survey
on organized sports for the City of Winnipeg. We had many wonderful
conversations with people all through the neighbourhood. While I
love to hear the opinions of my neighbours, it struck me that not a
lot of these folks come out to their Residents Committee meetings,
where their opinions would actually make a difference.
When I asked
some of them about this, the people from Magnus to Alfred said they
don’t feel they are part of the ‘middle’ (the middle being Selkirk
to Disraeli), even though they get The Point delivered to
their door. Same goes for some of the folks from Annabella to Angus.
South Point feels so disconnected from North Point, they’ve even
formed their own residents association.
It wasn’t that
many years ago that we were all one community, with one residents
association, the Point Douglas Residents Committee (PDRC), which has
been around since the ‘70s. Over the years the community changed and
the PDRC changed as well, and when I first came here in 2000, the
PDRC was all but dead.
Back then I
listened to people complain at their kitchen tables and over their
fences, but nobody did anything about it. In 2001 a group of us
decided we would go to the next AGM and get involved. Lo and behold,
we became the next Residents Committee! The meetings went from four
people to 40 people, and things got done.
Over the past
nine years, volunteers in our community started The Point
Community News, worked to create a housing plan, and took our
community back from the gangs and drug dealers. A huge survey of the
community was done to find out what YOU wanted. Neighbourhood
clean-ups were held and graffiti removed. Community members worked
together to make our area a great place for everyone.
From north to
south, we are setting the standard for other communities. Through it
all, The Point has marked our progress and told our stories.
Now The Point is urging you to take action and join in PDRC
meetings. The PDRC’s role is to take our community forward into the
future. It needs your guidance to do that, so get on the bus.
There’s room for all of us. ♦
top
By Angel Peterson
Exciting things are happening! After many alterations to the
original model due to budget constraints, the new daycare building
design has been completed, even down to the colours inside and out.
Funds have been coming in steadily and going out just as steadily as
the team at Bridgman Collaborative work tirelessly to get us to the
point where we can actually get the shovel into the ground. We have
begun the tendering process and are definitely on track for a spring
build. And I mean spring of THIS year!
Currently, Phase I will see us build the brand new 44-space Eagle
Wing Early Education Centre, with a multipurpose community room that
will be able to attach the main childcare building to the existing
Barber House. Phase II will be the reconstruction of Barber House.
The outside will capture the original looks, while the inside will
be rented space. The Point Douglas Seniors are looking to rent this
space and will also help to secure funding for this part of the
project.
Over
the years there have been serious setbacks, and the many volunteers
have gotten very tired and discouraged. Looking for various sources
of funding for this project and cutting through government red tape
was much more difficult than anyone had anticipated. The Board also
had to oversee the running of the current daycare, with the issues
of licensing, staffing, and staying within budget. This really
tested the Board’s stamina, but volunteer burnout and turnover have
finally given way to a new enthusiasm for the project. ♦
top
By Sheri Nepinak
The North Point Douglas
Women’s Centre is here for people in the community. Open hours for
men are 9-10 and 3-5. Other open hours are for women only. Of course
children are welcome with their caregivers. The centre is open
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9-5 (closed 12-1 for lunch)
and Saturdays 1-4.
We always have coffee on and
you can help yourself to toast. At the Women’s Centre you have
access to the internet for job searching, housing, or to check your
e-mails. If you don’t have an email account and want one, staff will
help you set one up. We circulate clothing donations for women and
children. We welcome your donation of clean, gently used clothing to
pass on to others.
We have a bus ticket loan
program especially for people who live in North Point Douglas. You
fill out an application form and show ID that confirms your address.
You can then borrow up to two bus tickets at a time and pay them
back with cash, bus tickets, or a work trade, meaning you do a job
around the centre based on minimum wage. This program is for people
who have appointments or job searches.
We have programs throughout
the month, including a weekly safety talk on Tuesday afternoons.
Call Linda at 947-0321 for more information or if you have a safety
concern. Elizabeth is a councilor who comes on Wednesday and
Thursday afternoons, free of charge. You can drop in to see
Elizabeth between 1 and 4 on Wednesdays or call 477-4673 to book an
appointment. Someone from CAHRD, Centre for Aboriginal Human
Resource Development, comes in on Tuesday afternoons to help out
with resumes and job searching. There are crafts Monday afternoons
and coffee and conversations Wednesday mornings at 10:00. You can
come in Thursday afternoons to play cards and other games. Once a
month the centre has a birthday party to celebrate all the community
members born in that month!
I am Sheri, the neighborhood
Resource Coordinator. I am working on other programs. Please let
me know what you would like to learn from Tara, the public health
nurse who comes in each month, and from the nurses at Mount Carmel
Clinic who come in to share information. I am looking forward to the
spring
when we will get the bikes out again. Until then we bought a
stationary bike to put in the Board Room. Let me know if you would
like to book it for a ride! Even starting at 5 minutes a week will
help us to get in shape for the spring.
We are thrilled to announce
that the energy refit is FINISHED! Today, while this was being
written, fifteen volunteers from the Law Society of Manitoba were in
the Centre painting the Board Room and the upstairs offices. Thanks
go to Jeff and all the hard workers from the Law Society also to the
United Way for helping this Day of Caring to take place.
If you already know us, please drop in again.
If you have not come yet—WELCOME! We would love to get to know you
and share what we do.
♦
top
 Art
Break! is an annual workshop and artist talk brought to you
through Graffiti Art Programming. Each year, selected participants
are given the opportunity to learn and collaborate
with an established and world renowned artist. This year’s feature
artist is none other than Hip Hop designer Cey Adams.
Adams has
created logos, tour merchandising, billboards, and advertising
campaigns for some of the most influential artists in rap music,
including Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Redman, Jay-Z, DMX,
De La Soul, Mary J Blige, Notorious B.I.G, Faith Evans, Ice
Cube, R Kelly, and LL Cool J.
Cey Adams has created a 2-day design workshop that covers a whole
array of art related topics, giving youth a solid base so they can
progress to a higher level in their chosen visual and graphic design
career. New this year, special art workshops with Cey will be held
for youth aged 13-17 years old!!
For more information on participating in Art Break! 2010
please visit
www.graffitigallery.ca
or contact us directly @ 667-9960. ♦
top
|
|
|
The 'Girls
Only' Skate hits the ice every Monday to Friday, 5 to 6pm |
| |
|
|
|
Pirates of The Point -
Kids participate in the performance art program
every Thursday, 4 to 6pm. This program is sponsored by
Graffiti Art Programming (GAP) and Norquay Community Centre. |
top
By Sarah Hanna
The Welcome Home
hosts programs for kids, adults, and families, with something
different going on every
day of the week. But there is more to The Welcome Home and to our
programs than the physical space they inhabit, the combination house
and church at 188 Euclid. Like many other organizations in our
neighbourhood, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the community of
volunteers, donors, and friends who keep The Welcome Home alive.
One of the
things making The Welcome Home unique is that it is also home to a
live-in community of full-time volunteers. The name "The Welcome
Home" not only represents the fact that it can be a spiritual home,
but also the fact that it is literally home to the people who form
the core of its community.
From the time it
first opened its doors in 1993, that core group was envisioned as
consisting of Ukrainian Catholic Redemptorist priests in cooperation
with young adults. This year our community consists of two priests
and four young adults who have come from very different backgrounds
to experience life in North Point Douglas. In addition to Father Len
and Father Mike, we have Eumir and Sarah, both returning for a
second year, Natalia, who arrived from Ukraine in the fall, and
Sophia, our newest member, who just moved here from Saskatoon in
January.
A year at The Welcome Home means something different for each of us.
It can be an opportunity to broaden our perspectives on life, to
spend some time discerning the future, to do something worthwhile
during a break in one's education, and even to study English. Along
the way we learn to live in community, and we gain personal and
spiritual maturity, not to mention a wealth of friendships and
experiences.
♦
top
By Martin Landy
 The
new Disraeli Bridge is a done deal. The paperwork will be signed in
a few weeks and then Point Douglas will be subdivided again as two
new spans are built along side the current bridges. For two years
residents near the bridge will have to suffer construction like none
before. Work will take place on evenings and weekends to ensure the
roadway stays open for the 40,000 plus vehicles (80% of which are
single passenger cars) to drive on by Point Douglas.
For the past
nine months the City and private developers have been working behind
closed doors planning the deconstruction of our community. They are
doing so without speaking to a single resident in North Point
Douglas, South Point Douglas, or Elmwood, the three communities most
affected. Worse yet, the City and the consortium are using the
information from the first design options as presented in 2008
community open house sessions to justify their reasons.
In reality the
bridge design has been determined by budgetary concerns and how a P3
or ‘public private partnership’ can
build the bridge and make money at the same time, as that is what
business does. They will not build the bridge as a social enterprise
but rather as private enterprise, which is profit driven. It will be
built in a way that works for them and not for us the citizens.
What will the
residents of Point Douglas get for the inconvenience, loss of
property values, and two years of disruptions and road closures?
Apparently we will get some nice trees and a bit of landscaping. As
residents we need to speak up and demand that if the City goes ahead
with this project without a single word being spoken to us, we need
more than trees in return. At the very least we should ask for the
reconnection of North and South Point Douglas. Open up the tunnels
under the train tracks. Stop Higgins from becoming a major truck
route. Demand access to the river and complete the path around The
Point. If they can build a bridge through the heart of our
community, then they can help repair the damage.
♦
top
By Kali Martin
Inner-City
homeowners are feeling a warmer lately thanks to Warm Up Winnipeg, a
program delivered by local training initiative BUILD (Building Urban
Industries for Local Development). BUILD, in partnership with the
Manitoba Hydro Lower Income Program and funding from both the
Manitoba and Canadian government, helps homeowners upgrade the
energy efficiency in their home.
BUILD serves as
a training program for people with limited experience in the formal
labour market and helps them gain family-supporting jobs in the
construction industry. Since the start of Warm Up Winnipeg,
approximately 100 trainees have benefitted. These trainees have
helped to lower the utility bills of almost 200 households in the
last two years.
What does it
mean for you?
Well, I know what the program has meant to me. I live in a house
built in 1927, and my heating bill has dropped from $350 in the
coldest months to $225. I attribute this to my participation in the
Lower Income Program and the insulation work done to my house by the
people at BUILD.
How does it
work?
Once your application is approved, an appointment will be set up for
your initial evaluation, where a MB Hydro energy evaluator will
perform an ecoEnergy audit on your house. The audit will evaluate
the efficiency of your furnace, the level of insulation, and how to
increase the energy efficiency of your home. Once BUILD receives
your ecoEnergy audit they will get to work on saving you money!
After your recommended retrofits are complete, Hydro will send their
evaluator out to assess your home and give your house its new
Energuide rating.The program run by BUILD is a key component in
neighbourhood renewal, empowering local people skills and jobs. In
turn these people help their lower income neighbours start to break
the cycle of poverty by allowing them to devote less of their income
to utility bills.
Do you qualify?
The income-level cutoff varies depending on the number of people in
your household. If you would like more information, please visit me
at the offices of the North End Community Renewal Corporation at 509
Selkirk Avenue or call me at 927-2341. You can also visit BUILD’s
website at
www.WarmUpWinnipeg.ca
Stay warm!
♦
Kali is a Housing Resource Coordinator based out of NECRC and BUILD
top
By Jordan Van Sewell
I have got to
start taking notes. Every time I emerge from a ‘meeting’ my head is
spinning and all recollection of the event is lost or incorrect. To
preserve my sanity I end up creating my own reality. For instance,
there was a meeting at City Hall to talk about the Disraeli project.
Yes, I had become a little hand-shy because I’d already been slapped
upside the head a number of times before. I thought opportunities
remained to alter the plans. I thought there was still a discussion
underway. After all, everyone was there to get it right. Right?
Wrong!
It turns out
that the definition of consultation is not the same as in the
dictionary. Apparently it is all a ruse to have you believe that
you’re involved. A meeting whose agenda was to consult is really to
let you know that this is the way things will be and you’ll bloody
well like it! Even the notion that the secondary plan for South
Point Douglas was to be completed last fall was incorrect.
Apparently the city may announce any day now that the plan is
complete—or not. I guess they’ll wait until the caissons are poured
for the new Disraeli. That priority project seems to have put
everything else on hold. Have no worries, they will allow the people
of Point Douglas to pick out the shrubbery to conceal or disguise
the new freeway.
Meanwhile, Plan
Winnipeg is putting together a discussion group for an arts policy
to create a template for the historic Exchange District whose
boundaries do not include South Point Douglas. Why should that
concern us in the Point? Well, a lot of people moved here to end the
chase. Artists had been chased from Osborne Village into the
downtown. From there they went to the Exchange. Some have already
been chased into this neighbourhood. Others will follow when the
gentrification of the Exchange raises their studio rents and they
must leave. This developing policy should cover our neighbourhood as
well. By the time the plan is in place, we’ll need it here. An arts
policy could help dictate a positive look, a unique and successful
branding of SPD in absence of the long-awaited secondary plan and
the hastily conceived and passed Disraeli project and most recently
the new Youth for Christ project.
Our recent South Point Douglas
Residents Association meeting focused on forming a block with North
Point Douglas to confront the Disraeli developers and make an
informed contribution to the ideas which now appear to be a done
deal. They don’t want our input. The Higgins-Sutherland loop, the
extension of Waterfront Drive, the provincial park on the Point, and
the redeployment of the Louise Bridge as the preferred
cycling/pedestrian corridor are not going to happen. I don’t know
whether this is because the
ideas didn’t originate at City Hall or because they’re not feasible
in a modern, progressive city.
Maybe my councilor could answer
these questions if he would ever call me back. Maybe. Maybe I should
start taking notes.
♦
top
By Tyson Cormack
 2009
saw a huge growth in Community Gardens in our neigbourhood. While
there has always been gardening in Point Douglas, this was a real
step up for gardens that all community members could enjoy in public
spaces.
Creating that public space for all neighbors to connect and work
together is key to building a strong and vibrant community. In the
gardens we have so much to teach each other, from the wisdom of
those that have done this gratifying and traditional work for all
their lives to children just learning about the plants. The meaning
is as rich as the soil we till.
This year we are able to offer close to thirty 4'x8' plots on a
first come, first serve basis. The community garden project will
truly be collaborative. The Women's Centre and the Point Douglas
Residents Committee will work together and connect to any group,
individual, or family that wants to participate.
Check out the insert in this edition of The Point for ways to
connect to the gardens. ♦
Gardening at Ashdown House, formerly located at 109 Euclid.
top
|
Community
Contact / Information List |
|
Power Line
Phone: 956-4090
E-mail:
point.powerline@yahoo.com
To anonymously report any
criminal or suspicious activity |
Point Douglas Residents Committee
927-3827
E-mail:
pdrc@pointdouglas.ca
Website:
www.pointdouglas.ca |
|
Eagle Wing Early Childhood Education
Centre
Pre-school Child Care - 49 Euclid Ave
School-age Child Care - Norquay School, 132 Lusted |
Norquay Community Centre
65 Granville Street
943-6897
E-mail:
nccentre@mts.net |
|
Boys & Girls Club, Norquay
Norquay School 944-1637 |
Graffiti Art Programming (GAP)
109 Higgins Ave - 667-9960
Turtle Island - 510 King Street - 986-7812
www.graffitigallery.ca |
|
North Point Douglas Women's Centre
221 Austin Street North
947-0321 |
Norquay School
132 Lusted Ave 943-9541 |
|
The Welcome Home
188 Euclid Ave 946-5352
top
|
Recycling Day
Blue boxes and curbside refuse collection:
March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 - April 7, 14, 21, 28 |
|
|
Other Important
Numbers |
| Emergency police, Fire or
Ambulance |
911 |
| Non-emergency police |
986-6222 |
| Street Crime Tip Line |
986-8435 |
| Winnipeg Crime Stoppers |
786-8477 |
| Public Safety Board
Investigation Unit (Safer Communities & Neighbourhoods Act) |
945-3475 |
| Confidential Line to report
Child Abuse |
944-4200 |
| Truancy and School
Non-attendance (Confidential) |
789-0400 |
| To report over-serving in
bars |
474-5585 |
| Abandoned furniture/large
item pick-up, garbage and recycling |
311 |
| Street lights burned out or
flickering |
480-5900 |
| City of Winnipeg Public Works |
311 |
| Shopping Cart Pick-up |
786-7600 |
|
Publication & Funding Credits |
|
The Point Community
News is a non-profit community paper produced by and for the
residents of North and South Point Douglas. This issue of The
Point is funded by grants from Neighbourhoods Alive!, and
LITE. Thanks to NECRC, NPD Women’s Centre and the Point Douglas
Residents Committee for their administrative assistance and to
all our donors and supporters.
Please direct all
submissions,
correspondence & enquires to :
The Point
Community News
C/O 116
Grove St.
Winnipeg, MB R2W 3K8
Phone:
771-6066
E-mail:
thepoint.editor@pointdouglas.ca
Deadline for
submissions is:
May/June 2010 Issue
April 15, 2010
July/August 2010
Issue June 15,
2010
Submissions can be
made by e-mail or to the address above.
The views expressed
in The Point
are those of the
contributors and do not
necessarily reflect those of the publishers. All submissions may
be edited for length and style. The Point reserves the
right to not publish submissions. All submissions accepted
for publication will appear in the print version and on the
website. Please acknowledge the source if any materials from The
Point are reproduced.
Editors:
Val Himkowski & Mary Mathias
Layout/Design:
Alex Stornel
Website
Management: Heather Geddie
Photography:
Val
Himkowski, Mary Mathias
Contributing
Writers:
Christine Burrows,
Tyson Cormack, Heather Geddie, Sarah Hanna,
Shirley Kowalchuk, Martin Landy, Kali Martin, Sheri Nepinak,
Angel Peterson, & Jordan Van Sewell
Advertising &
Promotion:
Call 771-6066
Distribution: North
Point Douglas Women’s Centre
Printing: Labelle
Printers
|
|
The Point Community News |
top
|
