Building planned for single moms, children

Photo by Vince Fedoroff

The Yukon government has promised a new 30-unit apartment complex to meet the needs of single women and their children who need affordable housing.

Elaine Taylor, minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate, announced the commitment at a press conference this morning, after two months’ research into the segment of society most in need of social housing.

It’s estimated the cost will run between $9 million and $11 million.

The dwelling could include services like a central daycare and a full-time administrator to provide support and advice for residents, the minister indicated.

“The access to affordable housing helps to reduce the incidence of violence in the community, and that is certainly a priority for me.”

Taylor would like to see the complex open in two to 2 1/2 years, and expects to have initial financing in this spring’s budget to begin the process of planning and so forth.

The funding will flow from the Northern Housing Trust Fund, which was provided to the territory through a federal contribution in 2006.

Of the 65 family units on the Yukon Housing Corp. waiting list for affordable housing, approximately 25 fall within the target population of single women with children.

Taylor said it’s too early to suggest what the design might look like, or whether the complex will involve the modular-style construction of the athletes’ village built for the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

The final design, she said, will involve some further consultation but expects the units will be a minimum of two bedrooms to a maximum of four.

Whatever the final design, it is certain to include state-of-the-art technology to maximize energy efficiency, the minister said.

Yukon Housing will be managing the project.

Taylor announced the initiative back in early November to specifically research and address the needs of single women with children in need of housing.

“From the research and through consultations, single women with children and women who have experienced violence were considered to be in significant need and that a housing complex should be developed to best suit their needs.”

Spokeswomen for the Yukon Status of Women’s Council and Kaushee’s Place transition home applauded today’s announcement as a good first step to meet the varied and extensive social housing needs in the territory.

“I am very happy they are doing this,” Charlotte Hrenchuk, of the women’s council, said in an interview following Taylor’s press conference. “And I am happy at the speed at which it is going.

“The consultation period was short and to the point, and action has been taken,” she said. She noted the abundance of research and information already exists regarding social housing needs in the territory.

Hrenchuk said she hopes to see the same emphasis on the construction phase that was placed on the brief consultation period.

She emphasized there remains a greater need for more social housing in general.

“Many people have dropped off the list for social housing who do not bother to apply because they know the waiting list is too long,”

Hrenchuk said there is a need to provide for the single women and men who work two and three jobs but are part of the working poor who can’t afford decent housing.

There is a need to support independent housing units for those who require assistance to pay bills and such, but are able to live on their own, she said.

“But I think this is a good first step in solving many problems that we have here in the Yukon.”

Barbara Powick, executive director of Kaushee’s Place, said the 30-unit complex will definitely relieve stress in today’s tight housing market for women who can’t otherwise find accommodations for themselves and their families.

In today’s market, Powick said, landlords have the luxury of asking for credit checks, rental histories and criminal record checks.

“Many women can’t meet that criteria, so social housing is an important part of helping people get back on their feet, to help raise their kids, to help get back into school and perhaps back into the workforce.”

Powick pointed out the five apartments at Kaushee’s are meant to provide second-stage housing for up to six months for women and their families, though extensions are routinely granted.

The apartments, which are in addition to the rooms for emergency shelter, are always full, she said.

Powick said there is a need for more secure, second-stage housing for women and their children in transition from the initial 30-day emergency shelter Kaushee’s provides.

Whether those needs could be addressed in the new 30-unit complex announced by Taylor, she is not sure, but this will at least raise the possibility for discussion.

Taylor said her Yukon Party government is the first territorial government to address social housing needs in a very long time. There is the new six-unit senior’s complex in Haines Junction, for instance, and the 48 units for seniors in Whitehorse which initially served as the athletes’ village, she pointed out.

Don Routledge, director of corporate relations for Yukon Housing, said staff have some conceptual ideas they’ll be presenting to the corporation’s board of directors next week.

Once the board provides direction regarding the type of housing complex it prefers, staff will have a better idea of the type of property they’ll need, he said.

Routledge said Yukon Housing has looked at numerous sites on land owned by the government and privately.

“We have a number of concepts in terms of the type of building, and based on the final concept, we will decide the type of land we need in terms of the footprint for the property.”