Lethbridge city council supports more affordable housing

In an effort to help three local organizations apply for the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), Lethbridge city council conditionally approved up to $4.97 million in municipal funding requests.

LETHBRIDGE -

The City of Lethbridge hopes to create more affordable housing with council's conditional approval of up to $4.97 million in municipal funding requests.

In an effort to help three local organizations apply for the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), council unanimously approved the funding, which could leverage up to $38.8 million for proposed projects.

"That approval, basically, gives us Step 1," said Kelly Stickel, lead pastor and CEO of MyCityCare.

"We are now moving ahead to potentially starting construction on our new complex."

Thirteen organizations are hoping to spark the process, with three already having a project that aligns with the RHI program's criteria.

Stickel says the demand for affordable housing is desperately needed and feels this was just another way his organization could help the community.

"About 70 per cent of the people that are coming to us are immigrants or new Canadians and we are getting three to four requests a week for affordable housing," he said.

The new funding will help strengthen the application process for the three proposed projects, which could bring 132 units to Lethbridge.

The city says the money will be spent on three projects:

• Blackfoot Family Lodge ($1.9 million out of a total cost of $4,925,600) for 12 units;
• Blood Tribe Housing ($1.5 million out of a total cost of $14 million) for 52 units; and
• MyCityCare Lethbridge ($1.5 million out of a total cost of $19,968,571) for 68 units.

In a release, the city said, "The city's conditional $4,970,240 would be funded with $3.5 million from item D-32 Affordable Housing 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget, $919,048 from the Affordable Housing Capital Grant Program and $551,192 from funding held in reserve as matching funds for future projects from the 2022-2031 CIP."

"With some of the challenges we've had, some of the social issues in the past, this is definitely a step in the right direction," said Mayor Blaine Hyggen.

"This is an enormous opportunity to create housing for low-income residents and help Lethbridge close the gap in affordable housing in our community."

However, the organizations are not clear to begin building yet, as a successful application to the federal Rapid Housing isn't guaranteed.

"This is the second round. A few years ago, they had another intake, which mostly saw projects being funded in the bigger centres. So this time around, we're hoping that some of the smaller centres such as Lethbridge will benefit from the funding," said Michael Kelly, project co-ordinator of the Soaring Hearts Project at the Blackfoot Family Lodge.

With the hope of approval, council says the support is needed to help those in the community.

"It's become somewhat of a responsibility of the municipal government now, housing. When I was first elected, it was kind of provincial, but at the end of the day, we serve the citizens that live in this community and it's important we have the funding in place to support these kinds of initiatives, especially when they are needed in our community in such a crucial time," said Coun. Ryan Parker.

As per council's resolution, Hyggen will also provide letters of support for each project and city funding is to be provided upon confirmation of successful RHI approval and subject to the execution of a third-party contribution agreement in a form satisfactory to the city manager.

Each organization has until March 15 to apply.