Approval of $4.3 million in funding for affordable aboriginal housing Thursday was a welcome surprise for the Aboriginal Housing in Action Society here.
The provincial Municipal Affairs and Housing department announced the funding as part of a three-year, $49-million Off-Reserve Aboriginal Housing Program.
The Lethbridge project called Koh Koonan — or Our Home in Blackfoot — will pay for the construction of 29 units in a 32-unit housing project for low-income aboriginal families.
A release from the province cites the local address for the project as 1102 5 Ave. N. — the former site of Ducan Industries — but housing society officials say it’s only one site being considered.
Harold Beaulieu of the society says it wants to take a low-key approach to the construction and is reluctant to discuss potential sites to prevent negotiations being hurt by neighbourhood objections.
The plan is to build eight fourplexes featuring two- and three-bedroom units. The society will have to come up with another $500,000 to cover the cost of the three units that won’t be covered by the provincial funding.
The society — a partnership between the Sik Ooh Kotoki Friendship Centre and the Metis Nation — was formed two years ago in response to a need to address a housing shortage for aboriginals in the city.
A study released in March shows 40 per cent of city aboriginals struggle with housing costs because of low income. Many of those find it have to deal with substandard living conditions.
“Obviously we’re very pleased as a board we’ve been able to achieve this,” said Beaulieu Thursday.
Jim Short, manager of the housing society, said, “there’s a very limited inventory of affordable housing” in Lethbridge.
Beaulieu calls the housing project “market housing” rather than affordable, saying the latter is income-related, while the former is “for professional aboriginals in transition to the city who can’t get get anything but shacks. Their kids play hockey, they go to PTA meetings, they’re role models and they want to meld in.”
Identifying locations for the housing complex could raise the “Not in My Backyard” flag, the society fears, and hamper negotiations.
Roland Cotton, chairman of the society board, knows first-hand how prejudice can affect an aboriginal’s ability to get housing. He discovered that when he first left his reserve in 1972 to attend college here.
Beaulieu says the units will be built with energy-efficiency and the environment in mind. They will also employ full-time management and maintenance staff.
While the funding is a start, Short says the city could still use between 150 and 300 other units.
The society applied for the funding last fall and was caught off guard when the announcement was made Thursday.
The allocation for Lethbridge was the largest dollar amount handed out by the province.
Other projects ranging in cost from $550,000 to $3 million were also approved for a total of 370 units. They include housing for aboriginal students in Calgary, Edmonton and Lac la Biche and residential units in Grand Cache, Lloydminster and the Bigstone Cree Nation.
© Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com
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