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Global Morning News Edmonton – July 31 2013

“A proposed transitional housing development in Terwillegar Towne has stirred controversy. John Kolkman, with the Edmonton Social Planning Council, has looked into the project and is here to talk about it.

Watch the video here.

 

by:  Patricia Kozicka

EDMONTON – The debate surrounding a controversial supportive housing proposal for Terwillegar Towne has been heating up, but the issue is not a foreign one to a number of other Edmonton communities.

Homeward Trust, the organization helping back the development in Terwillegar Towne, has already completed 59 similar projects in Edmonton as part of its mission to help end homelessness.

One of them is Edward Street, located on 124th Street and 116 Avenue. The three-storey building is described as a secure building that houses mentally ill people in need.

Unlike the 60 units proposed for the Terwillegar Towne facility, the Edward Street building only has 27 units. It is also more centrally located, with easy access to transit as well as other services and amenities. Residential communities are just a half block away, though. There’s also a park nearby, and the more affluent community of Westmount is located a little further south.

One resident, who has two young children, is not concerned about living a few blocks away from the Edward Street Building.

“It’s all safe, they’re all supervised. They’re in housing. They have to have a place to go, a safe place,” he says.

There’s no denying that no two projects are exactly the same. Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust admits that the Terwillegar Towne project is not only one of the larger ones they’ve funded, but is also located further from downtown than any other previous application. Still, it does have its supporters.

“I think that people simply don’t understand that new, affordable housing projects like the one proposed for Terwillegar can in fact be good neighbours,” says John Kolkman with the Edmonton Social Planning Council. “And really these developers are about finding permanent homes for people so they can make a positive contribution to society.”

Not everyone, however, is willing to have a supportive housing facility in their backyard.

“We moved here and now it seems like they’re bringing all those people from downtown area to southwest where we just came out from,” Gloria Zelli said Monday evening after a meeting about the project. “They’re shadowing us here. And we really don’t need that, we don’t want it.”

“There’s a lot of units that are for sale where we are now, and now we’re just starting to find out why. And so we’re probably going to sell as well,” added Abby Carrothers. “I’m not going to stay at a building that’s going to put my four-year-old at risk.”

Many of the roughly 500 attendees at Monday’s meeting voiced their concerns about what they feel has been a lack of consultation on the project. The fact that the developer, Murray Soroka of Jasper Place Health and Wellness, was also not there to answer residents’ questions did not help the situation.

Soroka told Global News on Tuesday that he was originally told the meeting was for community members only; and by the time he received an invite late last week, he had already left for holidays.

On the matter of who the tenants will be – which many residents expressed concern about – he says applicants will range from men and women to single mothers and families.

“These are people, let’s be clear. These are individuals who need a second chance into rebuilding their lives. They’re not dangerous people, they’re not…rapists or murderers. These are people that need an opportunity to get their lives back on track… plus there’ll be support in the building, as well as external support from the Housing First program.”

He also rejects the claims of some residents who believe the project will go ahead, no matter what.

“The funding is conditional,” he explains. “And we haven’t met the condition yet from both of our funders, and part of the conditional funding is to have these open meetings and to discuss with the public. So, this is nowhere near being a done deal.”

There are two upcoming meetings scheduled to be held at the Holy Trinity Church: August 8 and 15 (5 to 8 p.m.). A community information session is also scheduled for August 22 (7 p.m.).

With files from Vinesh Pratap and Quinn Ohler, Global News

By Alicja Siekierska, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON – Starting in August, nearly 1,000 lower income Edmonton households relying on monthly rent subsidies will find themselves short a crucial $50.

The Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC) in Edmonton is reducing the maximum rent supplements given to 916 households that rely on the subsidies, from $550 a month to $500.

In the March provincial budget, the government cut rent supplement funding across the province by $6.6 million, forcing the CRHC to make program cuts and reduce their maximum amount of direct-to-tenant rent supplement going toward lower income households.

CRHC executive director Greg Bounds said the reduction was the best way to ensure those households currently receiving rental assistance would continue to do so.

“We had a reduction in the amount of dollars available in our budget, but we wanted to ensure that we could continue to supply rent supplements to everyone who is using our programs today,” said Bounds.

Many are criticizing the government’s rent supplement cuts, saying the reduction will have a drastic impact on Edmonton’s most vulnerable population that relies on the subsidies each month.

“It’s going to put these families in a position where they are forced to make an impossible choice,” said NDP Municipal Affairs critic Deron Bilous at a news conference earlier this week. “Either they pay their rent and keep a roof over their heads, they pay the bills or they can feed their families.”

Members of the opposition are calling on the government to restore the rent supplement funding in the province.

“The impact of these cuts for these families is significant,” said Bilous. “Many of the families that are receiving this supplement are recipients of (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) funding or other forms of income support.”

Municipal Affairs spokeswoman Trisha Anderson said the rent supplement budget was reduced based on spending allocations from previous years. She said the government will still be able to supply more than 12,000 households across Alberta with rent subsidies each month.

John Kolkman, a research co-ordinator for the Edmonton Social Planning Council, believes the reductions are going to be damaging given the current state of the city’s rental market.

“It’s a very challenging time to be implementing these kind of cuts,” said Kolkman “They are coming when vacancy rates are dropping, and while rental rates are going up. It’s very much becoming a landlord’s market.”

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s most recent market survey, out of every 100 rental units in the city, only one is available. The apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton dropped from 2.7 per cent last year to a mere 1.2 in April 2013.

The survey also indicated that while vacancy rates continue to decline, rental rates are rising. In Edmonton, the average cost of a two-bedroom suite increased by 4.2 per cent from April 2012 to April 2013.

“Not only should the cuts be reversed, but the province should be investing more in rental assistance programs,” said Kolkman.

Kolkman said rent assistance, including the direct-to-tenant rent supplement program, can act as a homelessness prevention measure.

“If you cannot afford to pay your rent, there is a real risk you may become homeless.”

The households currently qualifying for the rent subsidies will see their monthly payments reduced starting Aug. 1, however, the new maximum will only be implemented after each individual client’s annual income review date.

Bounds said the process of switching over to the reduced subsidy will happen gradually.

“This isn’t happening overnight. It will be implemented in stages over the next year.”

Bounds said the direct-to-tenant supplements are the only rent subsidies affected by the budget cuts. He said the CRHC will continue to accept new, qualified clients, although they can expect to be put on a waitlist.