The federal government announced in December its plan to provide funding for Orillia’s new homeless shelter, and on Friday it was confirmed.
Adam Vaughan, parliamentary secretary to the minister of families, children and social development, was in town to announce $6.3 million for the Building Hope project, which will see 20 supportive housing units, a shelter with 40 beds and a community services hub built at 75 Queen St.
“The Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter is really a great project,” said Vaughan, who toured the Peter Street shelter Friday.
He said the feds were pleased to support the Building Hope project, which “overachieves” when it comes to sustainability; the new development plans to see a 25 per cent reduction in energy consumption compared to current guidelines in the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings.
The funding comes from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund — part of Canada’s National Housing Strategy.
“The National Housing Strategy is there to support these kinds of projects,” Vaughan said, adding housing funding is becoming more of an “easy sell” with the government these days. “We’ve repositioned housing as a crisis that needs to be addressed.”
Glenn Wagner, co-chair of the Building Hope campaign, said he and his team were “thrilled and excited about the announcement” Friday.
“We appreciate so much the federal government’s support,” he said during the announcement at the Orillia Common Roof, thanking all of the “experts in our community” who have volunteered their time and skills to the project in various ways.
With federal funding in place, the Building Hope committee now needs to raise approximately $3 million. It is doing so through its ongoing community fundraising campaign. More details about that can be found here.
The committee is also holding out hope the city will cover the cost of development charges, to the tune of $408,000, a requirement from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Council postponed a decision during its April 16 meeting.
