Affordable-housing project $240K short
WATERLOO — The organizers behind a new affordable-housing project in Waterloo say they are about a quarter of a million dollars short of their fundraising goal for the building, which is expected to open in August.
Gael Gilbert, executive director of Supportive Housing of Waterloo, said the $2.2-million project at 402 Erb St. W. still needs about $240,000 in order to reduce its debt load and to properly furnish the apartments.
“We will get the building built,
that’s not in jeopardy,” Gilbert said, “but certainly the additional money would help us lower any debt we carry and allow us to furnish and finish it appropriately for our tenants, because they move in with nothing.”
The 2.5-storey building will have nine one-bedroom units ranging from 470 to 586 square feet, and one of those units will be accessible. It was approved by Waterloo city council in September 2016, but they’ve been fundraising since 2015, said Gilbert. When it was approved by the city, councillors also agreed to waive about $80,000 in permit and development fees for the site.
Supportive Housing of Waterloo, also known as SHOW, received more than half of its capital funding (about $1.2 million) from the Region of Waterloo and the province, and after factoring in waived fees and development charges, that total increases to about $1.7 million, Gilbert said.
But SHOW has had difficulty fundraising the rest. They launched a buy-a-brick campaign last September that gave community members the opportunity to buy one or more of the 20,000 bricks needed for the building for $5, but they’ve only managed to sell about 12,000.
“The idea was that anyone who donated could point to the building and say ‘we helped build that,’” said Gilbert.
SHOW has a financing agreement in place with the TorontoDominion Bank, but Gilbert said the less the organization has to rely on debt to finish the building, the better.
Gilbert said SHOW expects to charge around $500 per month for rent, or about 42 per cent less than the 2017 market rate of $872 for a one-bedroom unit in Waterloo Region.
SHOW has a track record of providing affordable supportive housing in Waterloo. The new building is just down the street from the original SHOW location at 362 Erb St. W., which opened in 2010. It has 30 one-bedroom supportive housing units for residents, but the new building will be for people who can live more independently.
The non-profit charitable organization was founded in 2007 and also provides free hoarding support for anyone in Waterloo Region. Gilbert said they’d also like to fundraise another $60,000 for ongoing support programs at 362 Erb. St. W.
There are more than 10,000 affordable housing units in Waterloo Region, but thousands of individuals and families are on the wait-list and every year thousands of new applicants sign up. In 2015, the region had 3,004 households on the waiting list and 1,625 new applicants signed up, but only 700 households were housed.
According to the Region of Waterloo, regional capital grants have helped create 1,535 new affordable rental units since 2001, and earlier this year, the region announced it was spending about $2.8 million to create 25 new affordable rental units, primarily one-bedroom apartments for non-seniors and apartments with four or more bedrooms for large families.
For more information or to donate, visit www.showaterloo.org or call 519-886-8200.