Photo description:

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Victoria Court apartment building at 471 William Avenue sits boarded up and covered in graffiti. The area around the building is a frequent dumping ground for used needles. Within a two-block-radius in Winnipeg’s Centennial neighbourhood, many of the high-profile criminal trends to hit the city in 2019 have been on full display. Meth use has turned a back alley and a boarded up apartment complex into a needle dumping ground. Rampant theft forced the closure of a corner store. Three homicides have hit the same block of Elgin Street in the span of months. And gang activity is seemingly everywhere. Despite these difficulties, however, social agencies and community groups work to push back against the destructive influences that abound on the streets. See Ryan Thorp’s 49.8 story 191128 - Thursday, November 28, 2019.