Seniors in Golden are celebrating increased access to affordable housing at Mountain View Manor, a new addition providing eight units of seniors housing, funded by governments of Canada and British Columbia, along with community partners.
“Our government understands that funding projects such as Mountain View Manor not only creates safe, affordable housing for seniors, but it also creates jobs and stimulates the local economy,” said Kootenay-Columbia MP David Wilks.
Through an amendment to the Canada-British Columbia Affordable Housing Agreement, the federal and provincial governments contributed a combined total of nearly $1.4 million for the construction of Mountain View Manor. Interior Health also stepped up to provide the land, valued at approximately $159,500.
The new addition also received some help from the Columbia Basin Trust, who has committed $425,000 to the overall capital costs of seven sites (one of which is Mountain View Manor) in the Columbia Basin region for a total of 114 units under the Seniors’ Rental Housing (SRH) initiative.
“We are committed to supporting communities in dealing with housing issues and are pleased to be involved in this partnership with all levels of government and community partners, which has increased the number of seniors’ housing units in Golden and in six other communities across the basin,” said Neil Muth, president and chief executive officer of the CBT.
The eight apartments of modular housing (which have been lived in since December of 2011) were an addition to the existing eight-unit Mountain View assisted living facility. The existing units, as well as the addition, will be managed by the Golden Community Resources Society.
“Our organization has a long-established history of providing much-needed services in our community,” said Connie Barlow, executive director of Golden Community Resources. “With the addition of these eight apartments of affordable seniors housing, we can continue to make Golden an even better place to live for seniors.”
The Canada – British Columbia Agreement for Investment in Affordable
Housing 2011 – 2014, signed in July 2011, confirms the remaining three years of B.C.’s five-year allocation of the Government of Canada’s 2008 commitment of more than $1.9 billion to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.
This means a further $90 million in federal funding for British Columbians in housing need. With matching provincial contributions of $90 million, a total combined investment of $180 million helps to support affordable housing programs for B.C. residents.
The total capital cost of this project is approximately $1.8 million.
