The Creston Valley Community Housing Society plans to make the dream of affordable housing a reality, and with the help of a consultant and the community, the group’s plans will soon be on track.
The consultant will be discussing an overall strategy for affordable housing at an open house on July 6, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Trinity United Church. As well, the society is soliciting input from all community members who have an interest in housing, including people having trouble finding housing and people working with others having trouble.
“We have lots of anecdotal knowledge, but we really need the collective community to have input into this,” said housing society chair Alexandra Ewashen.
According to the 2008 Creston Valley Housing Needs Assessment, between 40 and 60 families were in need of affordable housing, while 50 per cent of renters paid more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
“We’re the only community that doesn’t have affordable family housing in the East Kootenay, maybe all of the Kootenays,” said Ewashen.
And with Creston having 33 per cent more seniors than the B.C. average, it is believed that about 100 seniors are in need of affordable housing, although that need will be somewhat offset by the 24 units currently being constructed by the Town of Creston and BC Housing.
Others in need of housing include women in transition after domestic violence and those termed “hard to house” — people with addictions and severe mental illness. Without affordable housing, “they don’t have the energy to address other issues,” said Ewashen.
Since the needs assessment was done, many formerly affordable accommodations have been demolished or upgraded, leaving some with only the options of couch surfing or living in crowded conditions. Others spend the summer tenting, moving into motels in the winter.
With the help of a working committee — consisting of members from the Trinity Housing Society, Kootenai Community Centre Society, Creston Ministerial Association, the business community, the town and the Creston and District Community Resource Centre — the housing society selected several possible housing sites that are being assessed by consultant Kane Bentsen of Bentsen Developments, who is also updating the 2008 needs assessment developed by Kootenay Employment Services.
Bentsen, who is currently working on the Salvation Army homeless shelter in Cranbrook, was hired with funds provided by the Creston Valley Gleaners Society and the Columbia Basin Trust, the latter of which wanted a clear picture of the Creston Valley’s housing needs and initiated this process to assist the Creston Valley developing a unified vision and voice on how it should move forward in providing affordable housing.
“They (CBT) couldn’t be in a position of selecting from competing requests,” said housing society vice-chair Heather More.
The consultant’s ideas for housing projects will be outlined at the open house.
One project that the housing society had considered was the restoration of Pioneer Villa. The former extended health care facility has been unused since the Interior Health Authority closed it, and many hoped it could be reopened as seniors housing.
“We spent two years working out logistics of renovating or developing Pioneer Villa,” said Ewashen. “We believed that it was financially prohibitive and beyond our current capacity, so we abandoned the project.”
The Pioneer Phoenix Restoration Society has since taken on the task of restoring Pioneer Villa.
The housing society’s goal is not to manage property, but to get projects started. Formed three years ago following a housing forum, the society’s mandate fits in with the Town of Creston’s revamping of the official community plan.
“Affordable housing is one of the items on there,” Ewashen said.
And the consultant’s report combined with community input should help the society get one step closer to creating new affordable housing in Creston.
“By the end of this process, we want to have two or three defined well enough to be shovel ready,” said More. “That way, when funding opportunities present themselves, the community will be ready.
“This is the valley's opportunity to provide input on an issue that affects us all. Please come to the open house and share your thoughts with us.”