It is the next completed project at the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George’s (AHSPG) 17th avenue development.
Soon, 35 Indigenous senior citizens who are either currently homeless, or at risk of becoming so, will have a place to call home for the provincial shelter rate of $375 a month.
Most of the suites in the supportive housing unit are fully accessible to people with physical disabilities, and feature a bed, closet, kitchen, dining space, and large a washroom in a studio apartment style layout.
There are also on site staff who will provide meals, training, and other services for the residents.
“It will probably fill up [within] a week” said Ruby Baptiste, the president of the ASHPG board.
The ASHPG is expecting construction to be fully complete and for residents to start moving in by December, at the latest.
She said the other 50 units on the lot, that opened in March of this year for all Indigenous people and families, had a full list of people moving in before its doors opened.
With the seniors’ housing, there will also be a new childcare center opening on the property that will hold 40 kids of all ages.
The province has invested almost eleven and a half million dollars into the development so far, on top of the “few million” Baptiste says ASHPG has put in, and will provide $1.8 million in annual operational funding.
The ASHPG also had plans shown for their vision of the finished development, as construction carries on.
Baptiste says “hopefully a year” is the timeline for phase two’s completion – “They are starting it this winter, maybe by next winter it will be housed. That will be 57 units, from 1-3 bedrooms”
“We want to create a culturally safe community for our tenants. We will have lots of opportunities and room to grow.”
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