Nine agencies combine for affordable housing
A new complex aimed at helping to address a shortage of affordable and supported housing opened its doors in Crescent Heights on Thursday.
Providence House will provide permanent supportive rental housing for 24 vulnerable and homeless women.
Alan Norris, the chair of the Resolve campaign, said the facility is the second construction project to be completed as part of the campaign. The Calgary Homeless Foundation building was constructed by Morrison Homes and will be operated by the YWCA of Calgary.
“The whole beauty of this campaign is because we’re addressing nine different agencies ... the nine agencies represent a true cross section of those who are most vulnerable or in need of this subsidized, affordable housing,” Norris said.
Tenants are set to begin moving in on Monday.
Ashley Jellema, the manager of housing and supports for the YWCA of Calgary, said each tenant will be paired with a case coordinator on issues such as income support, mental health and counselling, employment education, addictions, and social inclusion.
Jellema said what’s unique about Providence House is the focus on women’s only housing and supports.
“Women need women’s only spaces that are safe and strive to preserve dignity and prevent further victimization,” she said.
“So this building is really an acknowledgment about the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness.”
The Providence House building has been designed to encourage tenant integration through features like common rooms, shared dining rooms and meeting rooms.
The site is aimed at helping single women who have experienced chronic homelessness and are struggling with multiple barriers to sustaining housing, including mental health and physical health issues.
“Really the purpose of the program is to provide housing stability, to focus on community integration and to engage and connect women with their communities,” Jellema said.
She added that women’s homelessness is one of the fastest growing rates of homelessness in the country, and that women are often part of the hidden homeless population.
“Women tend to do things like couch surf, engage in sexual relations in exchange for a roof over their head, and remain in potentially abusive relationships rather than face the stigma and come to the attention of the child welfare system or the criminal justice system by becoming homeless,” she said.
The Resolve campaign is a partnership between nine agencies raising $120 million to build affordable and supported rental housing. When completed, the units will house 3,000 vulnerable and homeless Calgarians.
Norris said a number of other complexes are under construction.
The Providence House project was funded by provincial government grants.