Category: Fire
Services Back in Full Swing – What’s New at New Directions?
We are happy to announce that 6 weeks after the fire at 717 Portage Ave. we have been able to re-locate some core services that were provided at our main site. We will be renting two floors of space at 720 Broadway.
Several of our Training, Therapy, and Education programs will be able to resume some on-site activities while awaiting the restoration of our main office building.
In terms of the progress at 717 Portage:
The good news is that most of the furniture and equipment is salvageable. Many of our paper files are being cleaned and will be useable, with a potential slight smoky odour.
We are looking at 9 months for full restoration- amazing how fast a fire can completely knock out a building!
For now, we are grateful for getting a temporary home at 720 Broadway and we are grateful we can still provide services to individuals in our community.
Adult Day Services – Opening Its Doors
With the recent loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, our Adult Day Services (ADS) programs are able to re-open their doors to new individuals.
Pandemic restrictions forced ADS to close its doors to new individuals who could benefit from its services and even restricted the number of individuals who could attend every day.
Staff are looking forward to seeing individuals coming back to the programs, as well as all the new faces in the future.
M.A.C.C. Offers New Therapy Groups
Our Multidisciplinary Assessment and Consultation Centre (M.A.C.C.) offered Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) groups to individuals in our community.
Two, eight-session groups were offered, one focused on Depression and the second on Anxiety.
Pink Shirt Day
February 23rd was Pink Shirt Day. A day to take a stand against bullying.
Our Adult Day Services programs spent the day learning about bullying in its many forms and spent time making pink shirts of their own and writing things they liked about each other across them. (left)
March Trainings & Workshops
Our 2022 Trainings & Workshops continue in March, with one workshop being offered: Understanding & Working with Children and Youth Who Have Been Sexually Exploited.
Check out our March opportunities, and all upcoming training opportunities below.
Donate Now
Our community has always shown tremendous support for us, which has only been made more obvious since the fire.
We appreciate any and all donations you can make in our effort to recreate and/or replace Indigenous items lost by our Opikihiwawin program.
Consider donating on our Donation Page.
Update on fire at 717 Portage Ave. Office
Good afternoon everyone!
As you may already know, the fire at our main office site, at 717 Portage Avenue on January 3rd has resulted in significant damage. Half of the first floor was incinerated and has been off limits to staff since the day of the fire. The smoke from the fire centred in the main floor kitchen area on the Opikihiwawin/Resources for Adolescent Parents side of the building travelled quickly through the building leaving nasty soot on EVERYTHING throughout the building.
With this, all ceiling tiles are being replaced and all soft materials (e.g., upholstery, work station walls, carpets) are being tested to see if they are salvageable with cleaning or need to be replaced. All computer equipment and other electronics are likely no longer good as this soot is corrosive and eats away at electronics over time.
Luckily, restoration experts in this type of work have been on site since January 4th and are working with amazing speed. But, given the scope of work, it is very likely we will all be working outside of this building for several to many months. We have no exact estimation of the time frame because many things have yet to be understood fully (e.g., damage to the mechanics of the building and best route to fix).
In the meantime, we immediately moved to get a mail and delivery depot at one of our buildings at 574 on Erin St. This is a small space but is serving the immediate need. We were also offered lots of help from the community, our peers and realtors/landlords among others.
To our staff, please do all that you can to continue working hard for the people we support. Not having a central site for them to come to is, and has been, difficult. Hopefully soon we will be more accessible than we are today.
I thank all the staff of 717 for their work to empty the building of their personal belongings and for being so supportive overall in managing this massive disruption.
I can only believe that New Directions will emerge, yet again, stronger and even more cohesive after living through this latest challenge that’s been thrown at us!
On we go New Directions!!
a
Dr. Jennifer Frain, CEO
New Directions
Photo from The Winnipeg Free Press
