City approves Youth for Christ centre despite opposition
WINNIPEG, MB—City Hall has given Youth for Christ (YFC) the green light to build a 50,000-square-foot youth centre in Winnipeg's inner city. But before construction begins, the organization has something else to build: community relationships.
A heated debate at City Hall that dragged on for six hours on February 24 revealed simmering tensions in the community where YFC plans to construct its new headquarters. A total of 17 delegations urged councilors not to grant YFC $2.6 million to finance the project.
Much of the debate centred around YFC's evangelical nature. Some aboriginal community organizations said YFC doesn't offer culturally appropriate programming and didn't want to see public funding going to an organization that actively tries to convert young people to Christianity. Others felt snubbed, saying that YFC hadn't even talked to them about their plan to build on a piece of land at the corner of Higgins Avenue and Main Street.
After hours of polarizing debate, city council voted 10 to 4 in favour of the centre. Mayor Sam Katz said YFC will offer much-needed recreational services to inner city youth. He pointed out that the city funds all kinds of faith-based organizations.
The decision gives YFC access to another $3.2 million from Ottawa.
John Courtney, YFC executive director, says the surge of community opposition caught him by surprise.
"I learned some things through that journey," he told ChristianWeek. "A group of people was certainly offended we were moving into their neighbourhood. It's created some awareness that there are some connections that we can and should and need to make that we haven't made."
News of the project surfaced February 18, less than a week before the council vote. When the announcement was made, YFC had already courted influential supporters including Katz, Lloyd Axworthy and Grand Chief Ron Evans of the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs.
The centre will house an indoor skateboard park, a dance and performing arts studio, gym space for team sports, a youth drop-in centre, a climbing wall, a theatre and a job skills training centre. It will help expand the number of youth served by YFC programs around the city from 4,300 to 10,000 by 2015. Youth For Christ also plans to move its headquarters from Talbot Avenue to the new building.
Community concerns
But the litany of concerns, voiced largely by Winnipeg's aboriginal community, revealed still-raw wounds.
A number of grassroots community organizations that are largely aboriginal-run say the sudden arrival of a massive evangelical centre in their neighbourhood smacks of colonialism and reminds them of church-run residential schools.
"We've heard from the aboriginal community again and again that an anti-colonial approach is the only way to engage with the community. This is exactly the opposite—an outside group coming in," says Kate Sjoberg, executive director of the Spence Neighbourhood Association.
Other aboriginal leaders went to bat for YFC.
Ken Whitecloud of the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs said the debate overlooks the needs of youth. Whitecloud doesn't describe himself as a Christian, but believes YFC sets young people on a good path. "[Young people] should be treated as important gifts to be cherished, not as political footballs over funding," he told council.
Lack of consultation
But Inner City Youth Alive director Kent Dueck fears the clash at City Hall will set back relationships between Christian organizations and the aboriginal community. Although he supports the centre, Dueck feels YFC didn't do their homework.
He contrasts Youth For Christ's sudden entry with the strategy followed by another Christian organization—Urban Youth Adventures. "The inroads and respect they gained in the community because of their consultations and because of their willingness to listen—basically they have a standing invitation to go into any of the schools," Dueck says.
Unfortunately, YFC had to rush the process of gaining city approval because of a looming deadline attached to the $3.2 million in federal funding.
Courtney says he asked city council for a list of all the people who raised objections at City Hall so he can "take some initiative to see what conversations we can have to work towards healing."
And now the work begins for YFC
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