Mother Ink Tattoo Removal
Illustrated portrait of the Mother Ink tattoo removal specialist holding a laser handpiece, surrounded by messages about recovery and second chances

Winnipeg · Compassion without judgment

Your past does not have to be permanent.

Mother Ink provides tattoo removal and support for people ready to move beyond gang life, incarceration, exploitation, and the barriers of the past.

Get Help Support the Mission

Mother Ink · Healing, change, and new beginnings.

What Mother Ink does

Removal is about more than ink.

An unwanted tattoo can keep an old chapter visible long after a person has chosen a different life. Mother Ink helps remove the mark—and some of the barriers that can come with it.

Tattoo Removal

Practical, respectful tattoo-removal support for people working to leave harmful associations, painful memories, or unwanted identifiers behind.

Support & Mentorship

A welcoming first conversation, honest guidance, and the kind of human connection that makes it easier to take the next step.

Community Impact

Work rooted in Winnipeg neighbourhoods and correctional settings, helping people move toward greater safety, dignity, and opportunity.

Who it’s for

A place to begin again.

You do not need to have the perfect words. If a tattoo is keeping you tied to a life, identity, or experience you are ready to leave behind, reach out.

01

Leaving gang life

For people working toward safety and a future beyond gang involvement.

02

Returning home

For people leaving prison or navigating reintegration into the community.

03

Moving beyond exploitation

For survivors ready to remove markings connected to control, trauma, or a past situation.

04

Facing financial barriers

For community members whose income makes conventional tattoo removal hard to access.

Real work · Real trust

Built in community.

Mother Ink’s work reaches beyond the studio. It is shaped by years of showing up, meeting people where they are, and building relationships across Winnipeg.

  • Support delivered in a welcoming Sargent Avenue space
  • Outreach connected to Manitoba correctional institutions
  • Publicly recognized community-rooted work
  • A practical response to real barriers in housing, work, safety, and belonging
Della Steinke and a Mother Ink colleague beside the branded outreach van
Taking the mission beyond the studio.
The Mother Ink neon sign at a community event
Visible in the community.
Della Steinke speaking with media inside the Mother Ink studio

The story behind the work

More than removal.

Della Steinke built Mother Ink from lived experience, plainspoken compassion, and a conviction that people should not be permanently defined by their hardest chapter.

Second chances become real when somebody is willing to stand beside you.

Her story now reaches beyond the studio through public speaking, media coverage, and the memoir Mothering to Mother Ink.

Read the Story

A different future can start here.

Need help removing a tattoo? Want to stand behind the mission? There is a place for you in the next chapter.

Start Here Email tattoo@spenceneighbourhood.org