Affordable housing project at Hope Centre cancelled
The door has been closed on a $3-million affordable housing project planned to be built at the Hope Centre in Welland.
In March 2018, the Hope Centre signed an agreement with Niagara Region to launch The Home for Good project with 20 units of supportive housing with $2.4 million in funding from the province.
Last month, before the facility’s new chief executive officer Jon Braithwaite arrived, the ambitious build was taken off the table.
“The Hope Centre board of directors recognizes the urgent need for supportive housing in our community, however, after due diligence, it was determined that the amount of funding necessary to bridge the gap between actual costs and funding provided would put the organization at risk, thereby jeopardizing the delivery of their other essential services for those in Welland in need,” said a statement provided by Braithwaite.
The board decided it would “not be able to pursue” the project at the moment.
Plans were announced in April by the Hope Centre’s previous CEO, Mark Carl, and out-going Regional Chair Alan Caslin.
In June, Welland city council approved putting in more than $44,000 to support the project — only to pull out of that commitment a week later.
At the time, the centre was looking for building permit fees and site exemption plan fees of $13,849 to be waived and a partnership contribution to the project from the city in the amount of $30,458.
Council referred the request to the 2019 budget process and the Hope Centre was given the opportunity to ask for a capital grant request by mid-September.
Opened in 1974, the Hope Centre used to be located on East Main Street in downtown Welland but moved to its current location on King Street in 2015.
Adrienne Jugley, commissioner of community services with Niagara Region, reiterated that the project being cancelled was a decision made by the Hope Centre, but did say other options are being explored.
“We’re just looking now at some alternatives, once we know that’s their decision,” she said.
Niagara Regional Housing board chair Henry D’Angela said “the demand has always been increasing” in Welland in recent years, noting that there are 684 seniors, 634 individuals from ages 16 to 54, and 496 families on a waiting list to be put in affordable housing.
There are 427 units currently occupied through other providers and 461 through NRH.
A rent supplement program through which tenants are subsidized on an income-based formula applies to people in 153 units in Welland.
The average wait time for seniors is five years and six years for singles in a bachelor apartment. People looking for a onebedroom abode could wait up to 15 years and two-bedroom apartments for families may not available for 15 years.