Sunshine HouseKali Shiva AIDS Services has been working with people living with HIV/AIDS in Winnipeg since 1987. Sunshine House began operations in 1999 after broad consultation between affected communities, and national and local agencies active in the poly drug using community .A core of roughly 50 'regular' clients has emerged from the programs in place over the history of Kali Shiva at Sunshine House. This core of individuals is distinguished from the 4000/year 'occasional' users of service by their long-term participation in programs and use of practical services offered. The core of individuals has consistently followed us through two re-locations, including to our permanent facility at 646 Logan Avenue.Sunshine House has successfully engaged the most marginalized individuals in the Winnipeg poly drug using community by being a place where everyone is welcome, without judgement. A 'Harm Reduction' approach to our work has built a strong connection with people who often reject community services.
In the early 1850s, between 40 and 60 families of Métis buffalo hunters formed the original Catholic community west of Sturgeon Creek. About 1851 a mission was begun at the junction of Sturgeon Creek and the Assiniboine River, but it was soon moved to the present location at St. Charles. Bishop Tache asked Father Louis Francois Richer - La Fleche – a relative of the LaFleche family who still live in St. Charles – to construct a small log chapel. The priest did not reside there. He traveled from St. Boniface in the winter and followed his parishioners on their buffalo hunts in the summer. Father Damase Dandurand, who served at St. Charles from 1876 to 1900, was the first Canadian to become an Oblate. A windstorm on August 27, 1884, demolished the church. Father Dandurand, who retired in 1900, lived to the age of 102