Barb McPherson knows exactly how hard it is trying to find affordable housing in St. Paul, starting at the bottom of the totem pole on a $12/hr. wage.
“When I got here, I remember sitting in Alberta Works crying for them to help me, because I couldn’t find nothing,” said McPherson, who came to St. Paul two years ago with her 20-year-old daughter, fleeing a domestic violence situation. “It was tough – it was stressful, for sure. We felt homeless when we got here, but we were grateful for anything we could get.”
She and her daughter managed to find a two-bedroom space for $1,025 a month, which was tight on their budget. Even now, as she has advanced from her entry level job to a floor supervisor position with Habitat Social Enterprises, affordable housing remains an issue for her and other people she works with, which includes many single moms, she said.
“Affordable housing would just make life so much easier for so many people.”
Housing is an urgent need that has reached “crisis” proportions in St. Paul, says Tim Bear, executive director for SPAN, with a report identifying St. Paul as being among the communities most in need of affordable housing in the province.
“When this report says that St. Paul is one of the top communities - if not the highest - for need community in Alberta, that’s shocking to us. We didn’t realize those numbers existed,” Bear told Town of St. Paul council at its regular June 27 meeting, as he and SPAN’s Philip Lee laid out a case for the town to provide land, services and site work for an affordable housing project pegged at about $15 to $16 million.
For the past few months, SPAN has been doing a lot of legwork on putting together the project, which included getting a needs and demands analysis. The organization was originally hoping to get a recommendation to build 30 units, as it had enough of its own land to accommodate such a build, said Bear.
Instead, the report came back identifying a few factors for why St. Paul needs much more affordable housing units, including having an aging, growing population, a high aboriginal population, more people on government assistance than the provincial average, and waiting lists for rentals as well as students and seniors housing.
There is one women’s shelter in town, but last year, the centre had to turn away 322 women and 227 children due to a lack of space, with 75 per cent of those women returning to their abusive households, noted the report.
The report also notes SPAN received 300 calls for affordable housing in 2015, with most of those callers again having to be turned away for lack of spaces.
The report recommended building 60 to 80 affordable housing units, ideally with additional space for a second phase of affordable housing.
“We were frankly shocked at the needs that had surfaced,” said Bear. However, he noted several agencies and individuals have expressed support for affordable housing in town, and he felt SPAN, with its track record of managing properties, is well placed to access grants from the federal and provincial governments.
“We’ve been told it just needs someone to take the lead and go,” said Bear, adding that SPAN will of course need to get a mortgage and “pony up” several million dollars of funds itself.
Lee told council that SPAN is proposing to build 70 units along the town land on 53 Avenue, across from the Columbus House of Hope and kitty corner to SPAN’s Habitat Social Enterprises laundry services.
The units would be mixed use, with half the units having three bedrooms, and the others a mix of one and two bedrooms and bachelor suites, “outlined over two to three buildings, about three stories tall,” said Lee. He said the focus will be on making sure the buildings look appealing, with special emphasis on making sure the landscaping is done well and incorporates the walking path. He noted that in the winter, this area of town can look rather dull, and this project would create a “welcoming” place in its stead.
“I think this is a great opportunity to revitalize this area of town,” Bear added, pointing out that the project shouldn’t face opposition from neighbours, since it isn’t a residential area.
While all the councilors expressed support for the project, Mayor Glenn Andersen had a few questions, chief among them about the proposed site itself, which currently is not serviced.
“I don’t think we’re debating any aspect of need,” he said.
However, the issue was that the site was used as an ideal, centralized location for snow dumping in the winter months, he said, adding, “That’s hugely important to us and that’s why we acquired the land.”
Andersen also pointed out that with NE Muni-Corr operating the Iron Horse Trail through the site, the other issue was the 99 ft. right-of-way for the trail, which Bear and Lee acknowledged the design would have to accommodate.
The mayor also inquired about other partners working to building affordable housing, such as Blue Quills and Saddle Lake, and if anyone else would take the lead on it.
Lee answered by saying that the support of Blue Quills and Saddle Lake is huge, since their support is “crucial” to enable SPAN to apply federal grants for critically needed off-reserve housing.
A final question Andersen posed was about profit margins, and what SPAN was looking to bring in profits each month.
Bear hedged on providing estimated profits, but said SPAN is a registered charity, and does not technically have profits, as all the money goes back to the community and community projects.
“We won’t be budgeting for a deficit,” he said, adding that SPAN would also not be coming back to the town to ask for funds in the future.
“I would like to have the discussion about looking at other opportunities, not just one, because if you dedicate to one (site), you’re putting us in to a tough position on another way, and that’s going to be really, really hard for us to decide,” Andersen told Lee and Bear.
Later in the meeting, council noted that the project would be an aesthetic improvement in the area, but discussed the need to look at other options, and to schedule a follow-up meeting with SPAN.
Coun. Edna Gervais said with motorized vehicles running through the space, she wasn’t sure if the location was the right fit for housing, but expressed support for the project itself.
“There is money there,” she said of possible grants. “I think they’ve got the right angle there.”
It’s a project that several people are hoping will happen, including McPherson, who says she could see herself applying and living in one of the units, given an opportunity.
“One of these days I will – unless I win the lottery or they give me a huge raise,” she said with a chuckle.
