The Final Days of Our Place/Chez Nous
Written by Larry Stuart, Former Co-Executive Director of Chez Nous
This letter describing the closing of Chez Nous was written and sent to Archbishop Gagnon before his retirement in April 2025. It was the wish of the Chez Nous team for their story be shared with the Archdiocese.
When driving northbound on Main Street toward Higgins, you may have noticed a building with a large wooden cross on the front. This building housed Our Place/Chez Nous, a drop-in centre in Winnipeg’s core. It was a place where folks living on the street could drop in, and be accepted “as they were”, treated with respect, and loved.
Chez Nous began on Higgins in June 1987. In 1995, the Archdiocese of Winnipeg purchased the building that would house Chez Nous until its closure in 2023. The large brown cross on the front of the building caused Chez Nous to be known as “The Cross” to their friends on the street.
The COVID Impact
In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head, Chez Nous operations continued. They were open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and operated by a group of volunteers who were all retirees in their mid-late 60’s. On March 12, 2020, the Cardinal Flahiff Assembly of the Knights of Columbus hosted their annual fundraising dinner for Chez Nous; the following day, the entire world experienced the COVID-19 lockdown.
As this period of a lockdown began, we checked in on our neighbours to see who was staying open – most were able to as they had staff, while our team were volunteers in the “at-risk” age group. We did, however, have food, clothing, and money. Since the donated money to our operation wasn’t currently needed by us, we donated it ($4500) and the bulk of our food supply to Manitoba Harvest. Our clothing and some of our food supplies were donated to Siloam Mission, Union Gospel Mission and Lighthouse.
As the pandemic continued, our regular donors kept up their donations, which allowed us to keep up with regular building maintenance, pest control, and repairs and look after some of our friends in the area. We purchased groceries weekly (around $500/week) and delivered them to Lighthouse Mission to assist them in filling their food box giveaways.
Our back door remained open throughout this entire lockdown—this way, we were able to offer support and still receive donations. We became increasingly anxious to reopen. In October 2021, we tested reopening for one day to see how we might operate without being able to let our friends back into the building. The results were disappointing, and we closed again until September 2022.
The Change on the Streets
Many things had changed – our volunteer pool had taken a hit and therefore, we could only open two mornings per week. More significantly, the street had changed. Before the pandemic, our most significant issues were related to conflict triggered by those under the influence of inhalable drugs and alcohol. During the pandemic, these were replaced with the use of injectable drugs. This change to the use of injectable drugs meant that people became not only more challenging to work with, but also very dangerous. Poverty, mental health and addiction had been three consistent themes in the neighbourhood, but unfortunately, post-COVID, it was impossible to deal with.
Most volunteers, though not all, shared this sense of challenge, but we persisted until Christmas 2022, taking a break between Christmas and New Year’s and reopening in early January 2023. We continued until June, when we typically close for July and August to give our volunteers some respite. On June 22nd, we celebrated with our “year end” picnic at St. Malo Provincial Park. We rented a large bus, filled it with our friends from the street, and spent the day at the beach. The day was filled with fun, but little did we know that when we returned to Chez Nous, to drop off our picnic supplies and close for the summer, our doors would not open again.
The Tough Call
In August 2023, a member of our executive team informed us that he could not continue his involvement with Chez Nous. On August 17th, an executive meeting was held, which led to a discussion on whether it was time to close permanently. Three out of four executive members agreed that it was time.
A discussion and motion regarding our continued operation or closing was put forward with a vote set for September 5th. Twelve voted to close, six voted to continue, and one abstained.
Unfortunately, Chez Nous time serving the core of downtown Winnipeg had come to a close.
Closure and Sale
From September until December, we focused on selling the building. We had furniture, appliances, office equipment, tools, clothes from our “shop,” hygiene items, and more to distribute to a new home. Before we listed the building for sale, we reached out to our neighbours to see if anyone was interested in acquiring it.
Peter McMullen, Director of Lighthouse Mission, came over to see if we had anything they could use. He was eager to take items for his space, then asked us how much we would want for the building. Our most recent City of Winnipeg tax assessment was $167,000, so we started there.
After discussing with his board of directors, they approached us asking if we would consider a “Gift of Deed”. Our board then met in January 2024, and after much discussion and discernment, we decided unanimously to “sell” our building to Lighthouse Mission for $1.00. The sale was contingent on Lighthouse Mission continuing to operate out of our building to serve our friends who had come to us over the years. They agreed without objection and decided to move their food operation to our building and expand both hours of operation and services offered. The Chez Nous board of directors were delighted with the “sale” and Lighthouse Mission’s commitment to our friends on the street.
We had until March for ownership to transfer, so we spent three months officially closing our operation before the end of our fiscal year in May 2024. We employed a lawyer and started the process.
Money Matters
In May 2024, we had a bank balance of $199,728.56. Although the operating budget increased annually, the generous donations we received enabled us to operate in a surplus. We took great care in using the money donated effectively and responsibly.
From this bank account, the Archdioceses of Winnipeg and Saint-Boniface were given $99,864.28. With this donation, we asked that the money be used to support parishes in Northern Indigenous communities, to which both Archdioceses agreed with gratitude. Our bank account balance was closed, and the corporation was dissolved.
In June, I received word that Chez Nous had received a Manitoba Hydro credit of $623.41. While
Lighthouse Mission had taken over our Hydro account, Hydro had continued to draw monthly hydro and gas payments from our account. When Peter advised us of this credit, he wrote me a personal cheque, as we no longer had a bank account, and I cashed it and gave half to the Archdiocese of Winnipeg and half to the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface once again.
This brought the total asset distribution from Chez Nous to $100,175.99 to the Archdiocese of Winnipeg and $100,175.98 to the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. Our Place/Chez Nous began serving Indigenous populations in Winnipeg’s core in 1987 and we’re proud that this continued until our closure in 2024.
Larry Stuart
Former Co-Executive Director of Our Place/Chez Nous Drop-In Centre Inc.
Additional Resources:
Winnipeg Free Press article regarding the closure
CBC Article regarding the closure
On the Way article about Chez Nous (Page 5)