Horizon Housing to benefit from golf fundraiser
Horizon Housing provides affordable and supported accommodation for more than 700 Calgarians in need.
With the help of the Shaw Charity Classic, it hopes to complete its largest project yet — a $41-million housing project with more than 200 units in Glamorgan. The fully funded first phase of 161 units is already under construction.
“It will be the largest addition of affordable housing in the last decade,” says Martina Jileckova, chief executive officer with Horizon, which owns and manages housing to serve people with mental health challenges, brain injuries and physical disabilities. It also has apartments for individuals, seniors, the working poor and families living below the poverty line.
The not-for-profit organization is the newest official charity partner to benefit from the PGA Tour Champions event. It will receive a direct contribution from the tournament while also participating in the Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink fundraising program. It joins eight other official charity partners this year — Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre, Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, Calgary Police Foundation, Classroom Champions, Junior Achievement Southern Alberta, Kids Cancer Care, KidSport Calgary and The PREP Program.
Horizon was launched in 1976 by Calgary region leaders of the Canadian Mental Health Association, with the recognition that clients needed support within brick-andmortar homes, says Jileckova.
Horizon has 15 residential complexes — eight group homes offering 24/7 support and seven multi-unit rental buildings. Residents are referred to Horizon through 30 different partner agencies and proceed through an application process. Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $486, 54 per cent lower than the Calgary average.
About 13 per cent of residents are youth under the age of 18, coming from partner organizations such as Wood’s Homes, Highbanks, Children’s Cottage and Inn From the Cold.
Jileckova says there are an estimated 15,000 households with annual incomes of less than $20,000 that spend 60 per cent of total income on rent. Horizon is looking for ways to help those people.
“We have growth plans for what we need to do,” says Jileckova, “for those 15,000 households.”
The support of the Shaw Charity Classic is phenomenal, she says, not only because it will help raise much needed funding, but because it boosts the organization’s profile with other possible funders.
For more information, visit horizonhousing.ab.ca.