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Orangeville motel to be converted into affordable housing units

July 27, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Plans are underway for an Orangeville motel to be repurposed for affordable housing.

Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP) is a non-profit that’s been providing housing and health services for 30 years in the Region of Peel, Dufferin County, west Toronto, and the Region of Waterloo.

The group recently bought the former motel at 236 First Street in Orangeville. It’s to be converted into housing units ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments for people and families of low to moderate income.

Lesley Nagoda, the organization’s CEO, told Orangeville council on July 10 that SHIP promotes the well-being of vulnerable and at-risk populations.

“We fundamentally believe in the right of housing,” she said.

SHIP serves over 5,000 clients and has a waitlist with 1,500 names. They manage more than 1,200 housing units, of which 300 are SHIP-owned.

“We’re the third largest mental health and addictions supportive housing provider in the province,” she said.

Their largest building has 232 units. The smallest has four housing units.

Cory O’Handley, director of housing and service innovation, said the need for housing in Ontario and its catchment area is at a crucial stage.

“It’s epidemic,” he said.

The housing project is expected to be completed early next year.

O’Handley said it will have 27 housing units comprised of 25 studios and a pair of two-bedroom apartments. It will include a garbage room, laundry room, and storage space.

“The funding for this project is basically SHIP-driven,” he said.

Forty-four per cent of the funding is provided by the organization, with 36 per cent from a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation loan, 15 per cent from Ministry of Health, and five per cent from a CMHC grant.

“When we started in this project, we really wanted to get the community involved,” O’Handley said.

To that end, the group hosted a number of town hall meetings to get feedback as to what will work and what won’t work to achieve their objectives.

Councillor Joe Andrews said the SHIP effort is a perfect example of how vulnerable populations are best aided by way of affordable housing. Given that, there needs to be a way to reduce the waitlist for housing.

O’Handley said how to reduce the wait list is a global question. The first step is to consider “diversion and self-resolve,” he said. The second step is to provide more housing stock.

“Housing,” he said. “That ends homelessness. We need more stock. We need to actually be educated and we need to reduce the stigma for the communities around NIMBYism.”

That refers to Not in My Back Yard, as is the common reaction from many homeowners when they learn that such affordable housing is about to go up in their neighbourhoods.

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