A homeless shelter in the Exchange District celebrated and reflected on 30 years of helping Winnipeg's homeless population today. 

Siloam Mission first opened it's doors on Main Street on Aug. 24, 1987 and hosted a block party this afternoon at their current location at 300 Princess Street to celebrate how far they've come and look forward to where they need to go. 

"As a community we're saluting the past and celebrating 30 years but we're also looking forward to the future," Siloam CEO Jim Bell said. "We all experienced the good news last week when the provincial and federal government's came forward to help us with our capital project and we're looking at initiatives aimed at housing, social enterprise and helping people to find jobs." 

Bell says the tireless hours put in by volunteers and outside donations have helped Siloam stay afloat. 

"What has grown over the 30 years is the number of volunteers and what they bring to the table in terms of service and of course we could not exist without our donor base," said Bell. "They come here, they serve and they give their hearts and then they come back and tell other people."

"Our volunteer base continues to grow. There's always room for one more." 

Bell says despite the positive benefits Siloam has had in the community, the celebrations are bittersweet because it means homelessness is still a big issue in the city. 

"Homelessness can attack you in many ways and we simply want to focus on helping those people on that path back to dignity," he said. "One day if we work ourselves out a job, I think that's tremendous."

"We're going to work at it one day at a time and chip away at it." 

Siloam Mission serves thousands of people every year experiencing poverty in Winnipeg. A planned expansion over the next year will see the organization add a new dining room and drop-in centre, expand its health centre, create social enterprise jobs and help more people get a home of their own by creating more housing.