The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
$16.6-million housing project set in Dartmouth
Governments, non-profit co-build 45 units for seniors and people with disabilities
Politicians from three levels of government joined Affirmative Ventures' board Chairman Ken Greer on Friday to announce the opening next year of the Main Street Centre.
The announcement took place on Friday morning at the rear parking lot of Army and Navy Dartmouth, with federal MP Darren Fisher, HRM Coun. Tony Mancini, and provincial Chair of the Treasury Board Timothy Halman, minister of Environment and Climate Change, also attending.
Construction workers nearby were busy building the housing project they mentioned. This is a seven-storey building with 12 accessible and 25 affordable units, totaling 45 mixed-use units.
“Our vacancy rate here is far too low … we need so many more (houses),” Fisher said. “We want to make sure that families who want to plant their roots here in beautiful Dartmouth have that opportunity. We want to make sure that seniors who want to stay here in their community have the opportunity to live in a safe home that meets their needs.”
The federal government invested $11.8 million in the Main Street Centre project.
“It's so important that all orders of government work together to move us forward,” Fisher said.
The provincial government has contributed $4.7 million to the housing project, with an additional $162,000 from the municipal government.
Halman stated that providing independent housing and access to community support opens up new opportunities for people with mental health issues and disabilities.
“Having a safe, supportive home is more than just walls and a roof,” Halman said.
Afirmative Ventures is a non-profit organization that supports Nova Scotians with mental health issues and disabilities in achieving lifelong independence.
“They're also very well known for housing. … Over 15 years ago, they opened Affirmative House, where tenants who are recovering from mental illness live and thrive in this community” Fisher said, “Since then, they've expanded their housing portfolio and they keep working on ways to provide more homes to help people live independently here in Dartmouth.”
Greer, the chairman of Affirmative Ventures, is a criminal defence lawyer. He wants to build more affordable housing because of his interest in helping people recover from mental health issues.
In the beginning, Greer and his team focused on helping people with mental health issues find jobs for their recovery. Over time, they realized that housing problems also significantly affected people's mental health.
"So, the idea was to focus on that vulnerable community and build support around that," Greer said.
Fisher said that about half of Main Street Centre's affordable houses will be for Affirmative Ventures, and the other half will be for seniors.
Lily Crosby now lives in an apartment next to the Army and Navy Dartmouth parking lot, right behind the Main Street Centre currently under construction. On Friday morning, she stepped out of her apartment to listen to the announcement of this new housing project.
“I'm pretty excited … we got the coffee shop that will be there and there'll be the new community room,” Crosby said. “I look forward to that. … When the building should be done is actually right around the time I'll be moving out of my current place, so I'll be able to go from one to the other without much strap. That's the housing.”