Crime takes heavy toll on city’s non-profits – Winnipeg Free Press

Thieves and vandals are targeting community organizations across Winnipeg, forcing cash-strapped nonprofits to cover thousands of dollars in losses and repair costs.

On October 15, Inner City Youth Alive Inc. on Aberdeen Avenue affected by a “squeeze” in the freezer condensation system; someone cut through the fence to access the machine’s copper coolant line on the outside of the building.

The thief was unable to steal copper, but the system was damaged and the freezer malfunctioned, forcing the nonprofit to throw out thousands of dollars worth of food used for the Meals 4 Kids program. The organization also paid the bill for repairing the condenser pipe.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

Kent Dueck, executive director of Inner City Youth Alive, where the freezer system was destroyed twice because of the copper pipes.

Ten days later the suspect returned to finish the job.

“They must have been doused with freeze coolant for that, because that runs through the pipe,” ICYA director Kent Dueck said on Tuesday. “It just speaks to the level of desperation that this person had.”

The Meals 4 Kids program provides breakfast, lunch and dinner to nearly 3,000 children every month. Dueck estimated that between spoiled meals and condenser repairs, the organization lost nearly $3,000.

ICYA has since installed cable protectors on the fence to prevent further vandalism, but may have to pay $20,000 to move the condenser to the roof. The nonprofit’s limited budget does not account for such expenses and cannot continue to pay for the same repairs, Dueck said.

“We hope we’ve gone far enough… we’re doing everything on a shoestring budget and doing it as creatively as possible,” he said.

In August, the Spence Neighborhood Association’s community refrigerator was stolen from its post at 689 Maryland St. The refrigerator is usually stocked with community donations for anyone in need to take.

Prior to the theft, a community garage that SNA owns on Furby Street was hit by a car, damaging the door. Shortly afterwards the contents were stolen. And after a nearby house fire caused even more damage, SNA’s insurance company informed the association that a $5,000 premium was needed to protect the building.

The organization plans to demolish the garage in the spring, forcing it to find another home for the youth bicycle repair program.

“The pressure is certainly real for us,” says director Michele Wikkerink about the nonprofit organization’s finances. “It’s disheartening when things like this happen. You are busy with all kinds of other things, and then something like this just comes out of the blue.”

D’Arcy’s ARC Thrift Store on Main Street, which raises money for D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Center, is partially closing its doors in December due to increasing theft.

“There are people coming in with drugs, breaking things and threatening employees,” manager Sydney Burnham said Wednesday. “It’s just not pleasant.”

Dueck said the theft and vandalism are second- and third-order consequences for the city’s addiction crisis.

“I’ve been at this for 38 years and we’ve never shed more tears than in the last five years just to see how this opioid crisis is devastating the people we work with,” he said. “Now we are starting to see the impact on charities.

“When people are addicted, they do things they would never do if they were sane and healthy.”

Wikkerink pushed back on the idea that addictions and homelessness are at the root of the problem and pointed to other factors, including inflation and the overall cost of living.

“Who drives the desperation that makes someone want to steal a copper wire from a cooling system? What drives that desperation? It is inflation that is out of control, housing that we can no longer afford, the minimum wage that is too low to live in a respectful way, the EIA rates that have not increased since the 1980s,” she said.

“You can blame that one person who took the refrigerator or who took the copper wire, but that person is just responding to the incredible pressure that people are feeling.”

While the community refrigerator was likely towed from Maryland to be sold for scrap, Wikkerink said it was likely an act of desperation.

“It’s definitely someone who needs some extra money for something, and whether it’s a man who lives in St. Vital, or someone who just really needs to buy something for his kids, or someone who has addictions,” she said. “People feel pressured and people sometimes do things they might not have thought they would ever do.”

Keith Horn, president of the North End BIZ, says people should be responsible for their own actions despite one’s circumstances.

“I grew up poor, but I knew it was wrong to steal,” he said. “Everyone has become a target.”

Horn said Winnipeg police need to increase patrols at crime hotspots so organizations and businesses can continue operations.

But community organizers like Marion Willis, director of St. Boniface Street Links, say preventive work and community connections shouldn’t be written off as a way to improve conditions.

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