$23 MILLION ‘Rainbow Centre’ to serve 55+ ‘2SLGBTQ+ community’ set to open in Winnipeg

The project, called Place of Pride, is being developed by Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Center. The four-story campus will include meeting rooms, a welcome center, a courtyard, and a patio on the second floor.

The first phase of development included the construction of 21 units of affordable housing for older adults who identify as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The second phase will add roughly 12,000 square feet of space and is expected to cost $13 million.

“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,” Rainbow Resource Centre says on its website. “That is about to change with Place of Pride.”

The organization said the development is Canada’s first dedicated 2SLGBTQ+ campus, saying it plays a role in “building a society where everyone in the 2SLGBTQ+ community is loved, valued, and included, socially and economically.”

“Each one of us needs a place where we feel we belong. For the more than 270,000 Manitobans who identify as part of the 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,” the website added. “A place that 2SLGBTQ+ folks can finally call their own.”

Campaign chairman Patrick O’Reilly said at a news conference that the project is showing the world that both the city and province are “welcoming, inclusive, and progressive in all ways, for all people.”