Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP

By Shaun Penner

Housing and Homelessness

City holding engagement sessions on proposed social services campus at Stonebridge Hotel

May 18, 2021 | 1:29 PM

The City of Grande Prairie is seeking public input on what it is calling a proposed Coordinated Care Campus on the city’s north end.

The proposed project is a partnership between the City, other levels of government and community service providers which would repurpose the Stonebridge Hotel, located at 12102 100 Street.

The hotel and conference centre would then become the Coordinated Care Campus.

The City’s Housing and Homeless Initiatives Supervisor Katherine Schmidt says the project is intended to address the systemic challenges related to housing instability and chronic homelessness in the city.

She adds the facility would offer onsite client care with wraparound 24/7 support services to address mental health, physical health, and addiction.

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“When you look at the history of homelessness, and you look at causes and some of the factors that contribute to homelessness, we know that is not just about providing a home,” said Schmidt.

“Individuals come from a place of trauma, they come from abuse, they come from a place of struggling with addictions and violence on the streets. We have the opportunity here, because of the size of the space to really have that recovery-oriented system of care.”

Such a facility would allow the city to connect those in need with service providers, food, recreation, programming, designated Indigenous cultural space (smudging/prayer) and healthcare, all under one roof.

Schmidt says she and the city are very excited about such an opportunity, as the facility could integrate much community collaboration to address the chronic issue of homelessness in the city.

She adds this type of facility, especially its size, is quite unique and could be a potential leader in recovery-oriented care.

“I think the opportunities that are going to be opened up, in regards to this coordinated care campus, is going to be something very innovative and I feel it is going to be something that other parts of Alberta, and even nationally, are going to be saying ‘look at the great stuff that is happening in that City of Grande Prairie.”

With that, the city is asking residents to ask questions, provide feedback and learn more about the project during one of four online engagement sessions. The sessions go June 2, one at 3 p.m. and one at 6:30 p.m. Two others go on June 3, at 3 and 6:30 p.m.

Residents must register prior to taking part. That can be done at the city’s engagement website.

That public engagement is part of the rezoning process for the project, and the topic is expected to come up during city council’s June 28 meeting for a public hearing.

If approved, Schmidt is anticipating a soft opening date of August 2021.

Clarification: The city has clarified to EverythingGP that an accepted offer to purchase the property with conditions is pending. The earlier version of this story indicated the city had already purchased the property.