North Battleford is breaking ground on a new housing project designed to help people with complex needs keep secure housing.
The new building will be located at 1942 Kramer Place and will be broken into two fourplexes, for a total of eight units. A support service and transitional shelter area equipped with a small kitchenette and washroom will be located at the end of the property to form a u-shaped building complex.
The tenants will be people with complex needs or mental health challenges and will have support services from the Battlefords chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association on site. The Saskatchewan government says it will allow people with these needs to keep stable, affordable and safe housing.
Canadian Mental Health Association North Battleford Executive Director Jane Zielke de Montbrun also said in a statement that the space will “create a sense of community and belonging among tenants and provide space for social/recreational activities and group learning opportunities.”
Funding for the project, totalling $830,000, will come through a federal and provincial joint initiative called the National Housing Strategy. The city of North Battleford contributed the land to the organization to build the housing complex. The NHS aims to create 125,000 new housing units and lift 530,000 families out of housing need, as well as repair and renew more than 300,000 housing units and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent.