Castlegar city council has decided to create a committee to look at housing issues in the city and serve as a conduit for collaboration with groups hoping to develop housing projects.
A housing study done by the city earlier this year showed that there were gaps in housing for vulnerable sectors and that the city’s inventory of housing consisted mainly of single-family dwellings built during the same era.
READ MORE: Castlegar housing study finds gaps in filling needs for poor, disabled
The proposal was brought forward by councillor Maria McFaddin, who also hopes the committee will be able to provide input as the city moves forward in the future with developing housing policies.
The committee will consist of McFaddin and councillor Dan Rye, along with representatives from any non-profit or charity organizations with interests in housing that would like to participate.
McFaddin says that even though municipalities are not generally in the business of providing housing, they can help in other ways.
This includes non-financial supports such as advocacy and connection with grant opportunities and other funding supply streams.
“As a city, there is only so much we can do,” said McFaddin. “There are a lot of smart people in our community, who have a lot of great ideas that might help with this situation. I am hoping this will give a place to figure out how we can encourage and give a platform for those people to thrive in.”
“As a city, we can not solve this on our own,” added McFaddin. “But if we can collaborate together, I am hoping there will be a great strategy that comes out that we can start implementing.”
She hopes that through the committee, the city will be better equipped to help organizations get there projects off the ground.
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