Order in — and donate to veterans' affordable housing

An Ottawa affordable-housing building for homeless veterans will be built in part thanks to the generosity of diners ordering from their favourite restaurants.

Veterans' House, a 40-unit permanent, supportive housing facility that's meant to house veterans who are currently homeless, was slated to be fully built this month but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The building, east of downtown Ottawa, is now scheduled to open in February 2021.

It's estimated that up to 10 per cent of the homeless population in Canada are veterans.

The building, called the Andy Carswell Building after a 98-yearold Second World War vet, will be the first of what's expected to be many to be built in other cities, said Suzanne Le, executive director of the Multifaith Housing Initiative, the non-profit organization that is building the house and will operate it.

The $11.5-million project received $6.5 million in federal funding. Organizers expect to fundraise the difference.

That fundraising, Le said, was made more difficult during the pandemic. “We have $1.5 million left to raise,” she said.

One of the lead donors on the project, and the son of Andy Carswell, is also an investor in Smooth Commerce, a restaurant delivery and commerce platform, Le said.

“We're not just supporting the homeless, but giving back to the veterans,” said Smooth Commerce CEO Brian Deck.

Restaurants that use the company's platform — Denny's Canada, Basil Box, Maker Pizza and Greek Souvlaki House — will offer customers the option of adding a donation to Veterans' House as part of their online or mobile-app orders. In Ottawa, that includes Denny's on Clyde Avenue or Greek Souvlaki House on Rivergate Way.

All donations go to Veterans' House. The campaign runs until Dec. 31.