Community helpers at Portage Place are working to provide safety at dying mall
Josh Nepinak uses a word in Anishinaabemowin to describe downtown Winnipeg’s dying Portage Place mall: Ishkoniganing, meaning reserve or the land that’s left over.
Nepinak is leading a new community-led response to increase safety in the mall.
Portage Place Community Helpers — a paid, six-person team — is the result of a partnership between new mall owners True North Real Estate Development, Downtown Community Safety Partnership and a community-based organization known as OPK (Ogijita Pimatisiwin Kinamatawin).
“They’re walking beacons, they’re community helpers, and we have let the people here know that if you are in distress or know somebody who’s in distress, come to our guys with the OPK badge, the green vest and the DCSP hat,” Nepinak said about his youthful team.
Nepinak says that many of the regulars coming to Portage Place mall are seeking shelter, resources and connection.
He says “making sure that our relatives who are outside in the elements are able to have those necessities of life” is what concerns him most.
Similar to a greeter at Walmart, the helpers are there to make sure everyone who visits the mall feels safe, even as concerns over safety grow in the downtown area.
“The most common interaction we have is just looking someone in the eye and nodding at them as you walk past – just make sure they feel acknowledged,” said team member Jack Ducak.
Ducak says the the clock tower at the centre of the mall and the food court areas are the areas with the greatest activity.
“Whenever something happens in the bathroom — like, there’s a lot of overdoses in there — we bring them to the food court,” he said.
The team hit the ground running on Dec. 16, 2024, their first day on the job.
Someone had experienced an overdose and was in need of immediate intervention. The team, equipped with naloxone kits and the necessary training, was able to respond and ultimately save a life.
“These guys know what they’re doing,” Nepinak said of the team who are also trained in non-violent crisis intervention, CPR and first aid.
Nepinak, a member of Lake St. Martin First Nation who grew up in Winnipeg, has been volunteering as a helper in the area since June 2024, when he started a weekly walk along Portage Avenue to Vaughan Street and behind the mall on the Promenade.
These weekly walks, supported by mostly youth volunteers, took on a life of its own and led to the creation of a non-profit founded by Nepinak called Wiigiishiin Giiwiigeenahn. It translates from Anishinaabemowin to “help me, help you,” the mindset that Nepinak says he carries in his heart every day.
“I firmly am a believer that helping people is the most decolonial thing that I can do, because that’s what our [First Nations] people have done for each other for so many years” he said.
The positive reception of Wiigiishiin Giiwiigeenahn in the area surrounding Portage Place caught the attention of the DCSP, which in the past has joined the weekly walks with the volunteers.
When True North formally acquired the mall in December 2024, the multi-billion-dollar corporation acknowledged that there had to be a relationship with the people who use the mall, according to Sean Kavanagh, a spokesperson for True North and a director of the board for DCSP.
The community safety initiative started a few weeks after they took ownership of the sprawling mall that spans three city blocks.
“It was important that the relationship be centred on cultural understanding, lived experience, sympathy and listening,” Kavanagh said, adding feedback since the initiative began is has been extremely positive. “I see it in action all the time,” he said.
Nepinak and Kavanagh have been working together, in conjunction with DCSP, to ensure emergency services are only called in when absolutely necessary. The mall helpers use walkie talkies to link up with mall security and DCSP patrols to co-ordinate their work.
“It’s my honour to be around these young people as they try and help our community members,” Kavanagh said.
Nepinak remembers a time when Portage Place was vibrant, with memories of field trips to the IMAX theatre and throwing a coin in the fountain. He is hopeful that the redevelopment of the land will benefit all who use the space.
“I’m just very thankful and very fortunate that I’ve been able to be entrusted to take a lead on this, to take part in something so important to the people who’ve utilized this leftover land.”
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