Winnipeg advocates help other cities bring Indigenous perspective to fight against homelessness

Winnipeg advocates help other cities bring Indigenous perspective to fight against homelessness

Joe Hatch says getting a new apartment through a program to fight homelessness was an experience that made him feel human again.

“When you’re on the street you’re not really a human being,” he said. “You’re just a piece of trash.”

Getting a safe place of his own was freeing, Hatch says. But just as important were the spiritual teachings he got from the program, which incorporated local Indigenous practices such as medicine picking, sweat lodges and talking circles.