The vacant building at 10039 98 Street, next to City Hall, has been earmarked to house a 44-unit Community Supportive Housing project (Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP)

By Shaun Penner

Community Supportive Housing

Public engagement being held on potential Community Supportive Housing projects

Aug 28, 2020 | 12:33 PM

The City of Grande Prairie will be giving residents a chance to learn more and share their thoughts on plans for two potential Community Supportive Housing projects in early September.

The potential projects, which are in a preliminary stage of being worked out with local partners and are in the land rezoning phase, are earmarked for a 44-unit facility to utilize the vacant building at 10039 98 Street (next to City Hall) and for a 42-unit facility to be built at 10011/10017 105 Avenue.

READ MORE: City designates land for upcoming supportive housing project

The hope of the Community Supportive Housing projects is to provide stable housing for those experiencing homelessness, with the end goal being to end chronic homelessness for people who face barriers due to physical, mental, or behavioural health challenges.

Housing and Homeless Initiatives Supervisor for the City of Grande Prairie, Katherine Schmidt, says these projects aren’t just to provide shelter for the street-engaged population, but to provide the needed support in-house as well to offer them direct assistance to help them transition into a stable home and life.

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“In order to do that, we are looking at individuals that have multiple barriers, and there can be individuals that have experienced mental health, addictions,” said Schmidt. “So, having the right kinds of supports in the buildings is important.

“So, ensuring that we have access to nursing assistants, care aides. That we have access to addictions and mental health supports, has been really key in the development of these two projects.”

Schmidt says they are hoping that by holding public engagement, they can not only provide more details and insight to the community on the projects, but to also quell some of the concerns.

“When a project like this comes along, not only is the community and neighbours in these areas looking for information, but they are also looking for ‘What type of input can we have? How is this going to affect my neighbourhood? What is this going to look like? What does this even mean?’”

She also knows projects of this scope come with both positive and negative feedback, which she looks forward to addressing on both sides.

“For some individuals, it is exciting that the city is finally getting to that point where our most vulnerable are being made a priority, as far as housing,” said Schmidt. “Then on the other side of that, for some neighbourhoods when we start narrowing it down into where the site is going to go, it can be quite scary for people.”

The first public engagement opportunity will be held on Thursday, September 3 at the Ernie Radbourne Pavilion in Muskoseepi Park, where they will hold four 30-minute sessions at the following times:

• 3:30-4:00 p.m.
• 4:15-4:45 p.m.
• 5:00-5:30 p.m.
• 5:45-6:15 p.m.

Due to physical distancing and group size limits, anyone interested in attending any of the sessions must pre-register on the City’s engagement website.

The City is also holding two one-hour online engagement sessions through Zoom on Friday, September 4, at 3 and 5 p.m. respectively. Registration for those sessions can also be completed on the City’s engagement website.