MEDIA
Winnipeg Free Press
May 7, 2026
The North End Women’s Centre shut down its drop-in program on April 29 after the spike overwhelmed its three front-line workers, forcing a temporary pause to give staff a break.Executive director Cynthia Drebot said staff responded to 11 overdoses over the stretch in late April, administering 31 doses of naloxone.
Another 49 people required monitoring as they drifted in and out of consciousness at the drop-in or on the centre’s Selkirk Avenue property. During the same period, nearly 800 people came through the doors seeking support.
“We just couldn’t sustain it,” Drebot said Wednesday, recalling how staff were even called to a nearby Robins Donuts to help with an overdose inside the shop.
Drebot, who has been with the centre for more than 12 years, said she’s already seeing the strain.
“Before (the COVID-19 pandemic), we had about 50 to 75 people coming through the door each day,” she said. “Now, we’re upwards of 120 a day. And then the complexity of need is so much higher than it’s ever been.”
Meanwhile, after several days spent developing a safety plan, the North End Women’s Centre is reopening its drop-in program on Wednesdays with support from the Red Response Team, an Indigenous-led, survivor-centred outreach team that will monitor for overdoses both onsite and in the surrounding community through the end of August.
Drebot said the centre has also introduced additional staff training days, dedicated debriefing time and longer breaks.
“We’re going to try it, and if it changes, then we’ll have to pull back again,” she said. “I’m not going to let my drop-in team burn out and quit.”
CBC
April 16, 2026
Manitoba should declare public health emergency amid spike in drug-related deaths, groups sayStaff members at the North End Women's Centre prevented four overdoses with naloxone in the last four days, executive director Cynthia Drebot said. Staff also monitored an additional 14 people as they dipped "in and out of consciousness" after using drugs in the same timeframe, she said.
"It's scary because we're needing to check on people and be kind of on top of them all day, making sure that they're not slipping into an overdose situation," she told CBC News on Thursday.
Many other front-line organizations are in a similar boat, Drebot said.
"We've become de facto safer consumption sites for people who use substances because the drugs are so toxic and people are not looking to die," she said.
A public health emergency will make the drug crisis a top priority, Drebot said.
"How can so many people have died already, and how can so many people be kept alive by these measures without it being considered a public health emergency?" she said. "That's a question I think we all have."
Winnipeg Free Press
April 16, 2026
‘Give us a chance’: Supervised drug-site operators commit to neighbourhood with transparency, security, zero tolerance for dealersCynthia Drebot, executive director of the North End Women’s Centre, said staff are spending more time responding to overdoses in the agency’s Selkirk Avenue community than delivering core programming, including the centre’s drop-in.
“We’re all bracing for more, and we already feel we’re at our stretched point,” she said.
Winnipeg Free Press
April 16, 2026
Groups call for emergency declaration as OD deaths soarCynthia Drebot, executive director of the North End Women’s Centre, echoed Mahmood’s call for provincial action and emphasized that people with addiction must be viewed as human beings.
“This has been going on for five years at this intensity,” she said, adding they dealt with four overdoses alone on Monday. They were able to save each person.
She said the centre’s OD-prevention work has expanded beyond its Selkirk Avenue location. Local businesses have asked for training and naloxone kits, while the growing crisis is stretching resources.
“We’re all bracing for more, and we already feel we’re at our stretched point,” she said.
“Our teams are taking care of people who … would be visiting the safer consumption site,” Drebot said.
End Homelessness Winnipeg Newsletter
June 2026
Designed by Women, for Women: Housing Shaped by Lived ExperienceWhat if a housing project started not with architects or blueprints, but with a simple question: What do you need to feel safe?
For women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness, the answers were practical, personal, and deeply revealing. A safe place to sleep. Somewhere to leave belongings without fear. Space for children. Room for culture, ceremony, and connection.
Now, those answers are taking shape in Winnipeg’s North End.
The North End Women’s Centre (NEWC) is developing a new transitional housing project that will significantly expand support for women and gender-diverse people. Located beside the organization’s existing Selkirk Avenue facility, the development will feature eight rent-geared-to-income units alongside counselling, parenting supports, life skills programming, and other wraparound services designed to promote long-term stability. (continued at the link below…)