Homes for the vulnerable

Projects underway in several East Kootenay communities will provide housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities

Housing for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities is under construction near Baker Park in Cranbrook. — Trevor Crawley photo

Social housing units for low-income seniors and people with disabilities are under construction in communities across the East Kootenay through a partnership with Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) and the provincial government. CBT provided $425,000 in cash equity and BC Housing pitched in $8,550,000 to build 114 units in several communities in the Columbia Basin region.

“We were conscious of creation of the units,” said Sabrina Curtis, director of planning and development for CBT, “and I think (this partnership) did offer a good opportunity for us to come in in areas where they were having some financial shortfalls, so we were able to make the best of everything.”

The projects—part of the Seniors Rental Housing (SRH) initiative—are single-storey buildings constructed under the Wood First Act, provincial legislation that requires publicly funded buildings to be constructed with B.C. wood.

In the Columbia Basin, communities with the modular housing sites include Cranbrook, Kimberley, Creston, Baynes Lake, Golden, Revelstoke and Valemount.

Partners making things happen

In some cases, municipal governments have partnered into the project by providing services or city-owned property; the City of  Cranbrook, for instance, donated land near Baker Park, said Chris Zettel, a spokesperson for the City. There will be six sixplex-townhome-style clusters: four clusters on the former ball diamond area and two along the lower campground access.

The ability to draw from CBT’s contribution for use in smaller areas makes the organization’s support all the more valuable.

“For example, Baynes Lake required extra funding due to the need for a septic system, which federal and provincial funding could not provide,” according to a statement from BC Housing.

Across the province

The federal government supplied $15.5 million into the pot that will be used to build 322 units across the province as part of the Economic Action Plan.

Communities were chosen when the funding was announced last year and Rich Coleman, the provincial minister responsible for housing, worked with municipal governments to identify available property to support the SRH project.

Once the buildings are completed, non-profit organizations will be chosen by BC Housing to operate them.

In some cases, BC Housing was already working with local non-profit groups that wanted to develop social housing, while other groups had the ability to add extra units onto existing developments.

Seniors or people with disabilities who want to apply to live in the units can contact BC Housing or go through the local non-profit society overseeing their operation.