Christian group in Kentville seeks help to build 40 affordable housing units
Open Arms buys old church property, seeks help from citizens and government
A Christian ministry in Kentville, N.S., hopes to raise a million dollars within a year to help build 40 affordable housing units in the Annapolis Valley town.
The Open Arms charity recently bought the former Kentville Christian Reformed Church and its 3.5-acre property. They are in the early stages of planning to new construction on the site as part of a $2.5-million project.
"It sounds very ambitious but we're very hopeful we can make that happen," John Andrew, executive director of the resource centre, told CBC News.
The housing would include 30 units for low-income individuals and 10 units for people without the same financial limitations.
"Seventy-five per cent of our units would be set at an affordable level and would be subsidized at the construction phase by the provincial government," Andrew said.
Provincial partnership?
The property still needs to be rezoned, but Andrew is confident that "very positive conversations" he's had with the province "suggest a partnership is forthcoming."
Andrew said a group of students at the local Nova Scotia Community College came up with a questionnaire and interviewed 123 people about their need for affordable housing. He said only four of those people wouldn't have been eligible or weren't interested.
"I think the income cap for affordable housing is somewhere around $2,600 a month," he said. "When we share that with our folks many of them laugh because many of them are making half of that or less."
Andrew said the region has spent large amounts of money on research around poverty.
'Bricks to mortar'
"This is an opportunity for people who may have had an interest or even invested in other kind of projects that were research-based," he said. "This is a project that intends to put bricks to mortar. So I think that you will see a high level of investment and energy gather around this."
The next step is for the land to be rezoned.
In the meantime, Andrew is seeking any groups or volunteers who might be interested in partnering with the resource centre on the project.