Resource centre finds temporary home in Winnipeg church

It’s brighter than ever in the basement at First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg.

Sunshine House, a community drop-in and resource centre, is operating there temporarily while its headquarters undergoes renovations. 

The organization, which offers programming focused on harm reduction and social inclusion, moved into the church at the beginning of November.

The Sunshine House community chose the location from a list of options due to its relative proximity to the organization’s permanent location and the fact that it can offer almost all its regular programs and services at the church, says Levi Foy, executive director.

The church is not charging rent. 

“We’ve historically been located off the beaten path, so that allows us to do the work in the way that we like to do the work. This space accommodated that,” Foy says. “And this kitchen, I’m telling you, is really incredible.”

Started in 1999, Sunshine House offers community members a variety of services. They can drop in for food and coffee, harm reduction supplies, and recreation and fun. They can also use computers, shower and do their laundry. 

Participants are not required to be sober.

Additionally, Sunshine House offers a program designed to aid and advocate for LGBTQ+ people who are making refugee claims, and it operates a mobile overdose prevention site out of an RV.

Foy acknowledges there was some hesitation in Sunshine House’s community about the prospect of moving into First Mennonite.

“A lot of us, as queer peoples and Indigenous peoples, we have a complicated history with churches,” Foy says. “I think once people came into this space and realized [we could make it our] own space, a lot of [that hesitation] subsided.”

Sunshine House’s arrangement with First Mennonite arose in part out of lead pastor David Driedger’s efforts to build relationships with social services in Winnipeg.

He noticed many people expressing their respect and appreciation for Sunshine House, so he contacted Foy. He told Foy that if Sunshine House ever needed space for programming or events, they could count on First Mennonite.

Driedger lives close to the church and has, on a few occasions, run into people who are in difficult situations or experiencing distress.

“It’s been really neat to know I can direct some people I encounter to Sunshine House,” he says. 

Driedger adds that inviting Sunshine House to operate at First Mennonite is an acknowledgment that there are non-church groups out there doing the work of the gospel.

“The church, at minimum, should be able to provide a space or material support for that,” he says. 

Sunshine House offers foot care services, and Driedger recalls being moved one day when he saw this service in action.

“There was someone on their knees, attending to the feet of someone who had come in off the street,” he says. 

He is mindful of projecting the language of the church onto what Sunshine House does, but says, “It felt very much like an image of foot washing.”

Foy expects that Sunshine House will be based in First Mennonite until at least February. 

“I don’t think any of us expected to be here this long,” Foy says, “but it’s been really, really good.”