Winnipeg’s Aboriginal community
turned a railway station into a thriving enterprise, saving an historic building and a city street corner.
dealing with the realities of today’s life, hence the daycare. Recently they added a gardening course to the curriculum and were giv- en global recognition for successfully raising some traditional squash from 800-year-old seeds. Te remarkable four
Te centre is run by an elected board of directors representing the tenants who form part of a co-operative own- ership. Bill Shead is now the chairman of the board for the centre. Marileen Bartlett is the general man-
ager of the building and the executive director of the centre’s largest tenant, the Centre
for Aboriginal Human
MLA Kevin Chief is a product of Neeginan College.
through rental of the rotunda (scenes from the movie One Last Dance were shot there). Over the past 24 years, Neeginan Centre of Winnipeg (Our Place) — the new face of ACWI — as it is now legally known, has leveraged the initial investment into a multi-million dol- lar complex. Tey have mortgaged and remortgaged the original property to raise the funds needed to get each of their projects going. Tese include a learning centre and Neeginan College, a housing development complete with daycare, a health and wellness centre, the ownership of a nice swathe of ad- jacent land, and a recycling business (Mother Earth Recycling). As a spinoff benefit, additional investment has re- sulted in a complete remake of the once unseemly civic corner. Tey have upgraded, retrained and
graduated thousands of young adults who had fallen between the cracks but are now actively employed in such work as high tech aerospace jobs, nursing, welding and a long list of other endeav- ours. Te retention rate of these young people is about the same as any other age-related cohort. Neeginan meets the specific needs of their students by
thehubwinnipeg.com
Resources Development (CAHRD), which operates the schools. Her con- tribution cannot be understated; she works extraordinarily long hours hold- ing down two critical jobs and making them work. Damon Johnson is president of the
Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg Inc., which still
retains part ownership
through its tenancy. Damon continues to represent the centre on many fronts as a board member and chair of several other important local and national or- ganizations. Wayne Helgason is also still in-
volved, although he has retired to Vancouver after serving as executive director for the Social Planning Coun- cil of Winnipeg for 16 years. He has recently become special advisor to fed- eral employment minister MaryAnn Mihychuk with the title of director of special projects, employment and so- cial development Canada. In spite of all their successes, there
are still challenges to be met. Chief among them is their desire to have their school become certified under Manitoba’s educational regulations. Tis would put Neeginan on a fairer funding ground with other educational institutes, allowing more advances. Not surprisingly, this indomitable
group has plans for additional devel- opment. Stay tuned, because it will happen.
Fall 2016 • 31
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