Weeks after a staff revolt over the hiring of a new CEO, Siloam Mission announced plans to lay off 16 paid positions and reduce the hours of some services provided to homeless people they serve.
A symbolic illustration depicts tensions surrounding homelessness services, charitable giving and organizational change amid financial pressures facing Winnipeg’s Siloam Mission. (AI-generated image)
Winnipeg Sun/Klein Media
CBC reported that, faced with a projected shortfall of $4.4 million, embattled CEO Sonia Prevost-Derbecker explained: “We’ve had to make the very, very difficult decision to cut back on drop-in hours in order to start to eat away at that deficit.”
The organization operates an overnight shelter, other housing facilities, and programs to assist clients with hygiene and other daily needs. Many clients struggle with severe addictions to toxic drugs and substances.
While government funding has continued to increase, revenue from private donations has reportedly dropped by about $900,000 over the last year, from $11.3 million in 2021-22 to $7.7 million.
The board chair repeated familiar concerns about declining charitable donations, saying, “Charitable giving in Canada is at a 10-year low, while the cost of food, fuel and essential services continues to rise.”
Unspoken by anyone at Siloam Mission is an explanation of what really changed after 2021, though Prevost-Derbecker hinted at it.
“Over the past few months of review, it has become clear that some of the challenges we are addressing today have been building for years.”
Those years, from November 2021 until January 2025, when Tessa Blaikie-Whitecloud left to become head of the NDP government’s homelessness strategy, were under her leadership at Siloam Mission.
It would be interesting to know which “challenges” she may have left behind for her successor. Was cultivating and maintaining donor relations one of them?
While some may describe Blaikie-Whitecloud as career-oriented, donations appear to have steadily declined during her tenure after she succeeded longtime CEO Jim Bell.
And there lies the root of the issue.
According to Global News, when Bell was forced out of the position, the chair of the board at the time “singled out Bell for his fundraising efforts on behalf of the mission.”
His ability to persuade donors to contribute and his influence within the charitable community have not been replaced.
Why did he have to go? Because of an uproar led by former employees and the “Not My Siloam” movement, which demanded the Christian organization commit to a new Indigenous relations strategy.
A petition called for “Jim Bell, former football player, to be asked to resign for fostering a detrimental attitude toward the healing and reconciliation of Indigenous people.”
Some activists viewed Bell’s background and leadership style as incompatible with reconciliation efforts.
As CBC reported at the time, “Siloam’s new strategy will include a formal reconciliation statement, the creation of an Indigenous Advisory Council, establishing an accountability process, exploring diversification of its board, and more.”
Critics of the shift argued the organization began distancing itself from parts of its traditional Christian donor base.
A college newspaper described Bell’s approach as “a modern version of white saviourism and colonial social taxonomy.”
Under Blaikie-Whitecloud, Siloam Mission publicly embraced reconciliation-focused messaging while continuing to identify as a Christian organization.
“While we know that the majority of the community we have served over the years is Indigenous, regrettably, there have been times where we failed to recognize that good intentions which carry cultural ignorance were, and continue to be, re-traumatizing and oppressive to Indigenous Peoples,” the organization stated in its “Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.”
A source with experience in the shelter sector suggested some longtime donors became uncomfortable with the organization’s changing direction.
“Now they are no longer viewed by some supporters as the same Christian organization they once were,” the source said. “Some donors have withdrawn support.”
Some Winnipeg Sun readers shared similar sentiments.
“When you kick out Jesus, you kick out his flock of givers,” one church-going reader said. “I know some of the former workers. They moved on to other charitable work.”
Another reader argued Bell “cared about the homeless and ran the place well,” while criticizing the reasons for his departure.
A third reader stated: “We used to give $500 per year. Stopped after they went crazy. Money goes elsewhere now.”
The coordinated leaks undermining Prevost-Derbecker following her hiring suggested tensions within the organization had not disappeared. But whatever challenges Siloam Mission faces today likely did not begin solely with the new CEO.
One source described growing ideological tensions within the organization, arguing that newer staff and recent social work graduates were increasingly pushing for a more activist-oriented direction and criticizing the organization for not being progressive enough.
They also warned that continued internal conflict could create tension with Siloam Mission’s parent organization, the Church of the Nazarene.