October 8, 2008

PROVINCE COMMITS $1 MILLION FOR MANITOBA FRIENDSHIP CENTRES: LATHLIN– – –
Centres to Receive Support For Building Upgrades


The province has established a $1-million fund to help repair and upgrade friendship centres, Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Oscar Lathlin announced today.

“Friendship centres are instrumental in helping rural and northern Aboriginal people adjust to life in urban centres,” said Lathlin. “They offer a wide variety of social services that help Aboriginal people in this transition.”

The funding will be administered through the Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres (MAC), which represents the 11 facilities across the province. MAC will receive $250,000 a year over four years beginning this year.

MAC will work with the 11 centres to develop action plans, identify community priorities and create long-term strategies, Lathlin said. Upgrades and repairs can include projects such as energy‑efficiency improvements, disability access upgrades, roof replacements, fresh air ventilation, fire safety upgrades and other priority improvements.

“Friendship centres have proven their worth time and time again,” Lathlin said. “They run programs ranging from youth recreation activities, daycares, parent-child centres, youth employment assistance services, outreach and summer programs, and Aboriginal Head Start and Partners for Careers programs among others.”

There are friendship centres in Brandon, Dauphin, Flin Flon, Lynn Lake, Portage la Prairie, Riverton, Selkirk, Swan River, The Pas, Thompson and Winnipeg.

The centres were originally created in the 1950s as Indian and Métis friendship centres to assist Aboriginal people moving to urban communities and provide a variety of support services.

The Winnipeg Friendship Centre, founded in 1958, was the first such centre in Canada. The movement to have a provincial organization was initiated by The Pas Friendship Centre in the early 1970s. As a result, MAC was formed to represent and lobby for the program and service needs of all centres in the province.
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