Place of Pride

PLACE OF PRIDE – Canada's First Dedicated 2SLGBTQ+ Campus

More than 270,000 Manitobans consider themselves part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. This includes those who identify and their immediate families. They have never had a place that is theirs - where they know they belong.

That is about to change with Place of Pride.

Place of Pride will be the first 2SLGBTQ+ campus in Canada. It will play a critical role in building a society where everyone in the 2SLGBTQ+ community is loved, valued, and included, socially and economically.

Place of Pride is a $20 million project that includes new spaces for counselling, programming, community, and 55+ housing at 545 Broadway, in central Winnipeg.

The accessible campus is made up of three buildings and outdoor spaces:

• A new four-storey building with 21 apartments on the top three floors and programming and community spaces on the first floor
• A revitalized former Klinic building (Wilson House) with a ceremony room, community meeting rooms and private counselling spaces
• A new glass-walled welcome centre will provide a link between the apartment building and Wilson House so all three buildings are seamlessly connected. The welcome centre will include art spaces, a library and community-connection spaces 
• A courtyard, garden and second-floor patio will provide outdoor community gathering spaces.

A Place to Belong

Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre is Canada’s longest-serving, continually running 2SLGBTQ+ centre. It was established 50 years ago, when 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans were on the frontlines, fighting for their most basic rights and equal opportunities. 

Since then, the 2SLGBTQ+ community has experienced many changes, challenges, grief, milestones and celebrations. Rainbow has shared that journey, growing and evolving to meet the community’s needs along the way. 

One thing that hasn’t changed is the need for a place where 2SLGBTQ+ people and those who love them can find community and belonging.

Place of Pride takes Rainbow from 2,000 sf to 12,000 sf of programming and community space. This means thousands more people and their families – at all ages and stages of life - will have the resources to thrive. 

Each one of us needs a place where we feel we belong. For the more than 270,000 Manitobans who identify as part of community, that space doesn’t exist right now.

Place of Pride will be a dedicated and welcoming hub where services, activism and community come together. A place that 2SLGBTQ+ folks can finally call their own.

Place of Pride will have:

• Affordable housing for 55+ 2SLGBTQ+ adults, with direct access to supports, resources and social connections 
• Connection spaces with art displays, activities, a café and a library
• Purpose-built counselling rooms and program spaces where thousands more 2SLGBTQ+ folks can access expanded and new services
• Spaces where more families can find the supports and community they need
• A kitchen to prepare community meals 
• Activity spaces for people of all ages and identities to engage in art and other social groups
• Welcoming spaces everyone in community can enjoy, including a café, a circular ceremony and meeting room, and a park-like setting
• Spaces the community can use for events and meetings.

Let’s build Place of Pride together

Fifty years ago, in the early days of determined activism, 2SLGBTQ+ people and the greater community came together to create the centre of service, space and advocacy that became Rainbow Resource Centre.

By working together again, we can build something new - a purpose-built 2SLGBTQ+ campus where everyone is welcome and everyone can thrive.

Will you please invest?

The $20-million Place of Pride campus was started with $5 million from the federal Rapid Housing Initiative to build the new, affordable housing complex for 2SLGBTQ+ older adults. The Province of Manitoba committed $3 million to support housing and the new cultural space.

Phase 1 created 21 units of deeply affordable housing for 2SLGBTQ+ older adults. That phase is complete, and the first residents were welcomed in September 2024. 

We’re now asking the community to invest $12 million to complete Phase 2 of Place of Pride – the programming, service and connection spaces 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans have waited so long for.

You can help build Place of Pride and a more inclusive future for our community.

Please give today.

For more information on this transformational project, or to learn about options for major gifts and onsite recognition, please contact:

Noreen Mian
Executive Director, Rainbow Resource Centre
204-474-0212 ext 208
noreenm@rainbowresourcecentre.org

I will support a Place of Pride today!

Archival image:
"Winnipeg Gay Pride March 1974"; Gays for Equality; Aug. 31, 1974. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...

Housing Applications Now Open

In partnership with Westminster Housing Society, we are accepting applications for Place of Pride’s designated affordable housing for 2SLGBTQ+ older adults (55+).

Place of Pride offers 1- and 2-bedroom units of deeply affordable independent living at 549 Broadway. After Phase 2 of Place of Pride is completed, there will be dynamic spaces for community and Rainbow Resource Centre programming on the main level of the apartment building and throughout the campus.

To apply:

Option 1: submit completed application by email to info@rainbowresourcecentre.org

Option 2: Drop off in-person at Rainbow Resource Centre during open hours: M-Th, 10-5pm. Please note, we are closed on Fridays and every day between 12:30-1:30.

Download the application here >> Place of Pride Tenant Application