{"id":4484,"date":"2026-04-09T12:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/?p=4484"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:55:23","slug":"initiatives-for-just-communities-formally-launches-new-drop-in-space-at-555-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/initiatives-for-just-communities-formally-launches-new-drop-in-space-at-555-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"Initiatives for Just Communities formally launches new drop-in space at 555 Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WINNIPEG \u2013 The West Broadway community officially welcomed new neighbours on April 1, 2026, as Initiatives for Just Communities (IJC) formally launched their new drop-in space at 555 Broadway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new IJC Winnipeg offices are open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering a drop-in centre, food bank, clothing depot, cooking classes, sewing and beading programs, singing and drumming, and counselling services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded nearly 20 years ago by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba, IJC supports individuals involved in the justice system, particularly those living with disabilities or mental health challenges such as FASD, ADHD, autism, and other cognitive or developmental conditions. Many participants are also supported through the Department of Family Services\u2019 Community Living Disability Services (CLDS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its mission, \u201cThe vision of IJC is to create communities where each person, particularly the stigmatized and the vulnerable, has a place to belong. We believe that all are created equal, recognizing and honouring our diverse cultural realities. We value the experiences of all, with an emphasis on community, compassion, restorative justice, advocacy and transparency in our work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 60 people attended the grand opening on April 1, including Family Services Minister Nahanni Fontaine. She also visited IJC\u2019s Steinbach operations at The El\u2019Dad Ranch exactly one year earlier, where she formally recognized the historical impacts and ongoing healing work IJC has championed across Manitoba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fontaine was one of eight individuals who provided remarks during the grand opening. Others included Rev. Canon Dr. Murray Still, Indigenous Elder and Chair of IJC\u2019s Board of Directors, Darryl Loewen, the MCC\u2019s Executive Director, Jen Brisson and Kevin Drain of IJC\u2019s Shared Leadership Team, and Harri Vallittu, who\u2019s worked with IJC\u2019s Touchstone program as a Direct Support Worker for over 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will always be challenges, and we have to face them head-on, with the support of our wonderful staff and the people that support the program. We have a lovely place like this, and we can work together to achieve these goals,\u201d said Vallittu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWithout understanding, we have no hope for justice. Keeping that in mind, the true measure of humanity is how we treat those less fortunate than ourselves. Keep up the good work everybody, this is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WINNIPEG \u2013 The West Broadway community officially welcomed new neighbours on April 1, 2026, as Initiatives for Just Communities (IJC) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MIKE5825.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4513,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4484\/revisions\/4513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}