DIDSBURY - Didsbury council was told by the president of Essentials for Our Community that the town is in dire need of affordable community housing.
Sheree Andrews appeared before council at its regular meeting on June 12 as a delegation and urged council to reconsider its decision to not oppose the disposal of four vacant community housing units in town.
The duplex units are owned by the Alberta provincial government and operated by Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH).
MVSH is recommending the units be disposed of as all are vacant and unable to be lived in unless repairs are done.
"They need repairs," Sam Smalldon, MVSH CAO said to the Gazette. "Since the province owns the asset, they are the ones to either fund it or we suggest if they're not willing to fund it, they sell it."
In total there are 13 units operated by MVSH that the province is looking to dispose of with eight in Olds, four in Didsbury and one in Carstairs.
The question set in the letter regarding the sale, dated May 25, stated: "Before declaring these units as surplus to the province, we are looking for confirmation that the need for these units under a social housing model is no longer required within your community."
At the Didsbury regular council meeting on May 8, council approved the sale of the units. Olds and Carstairs have also approved the sales for their respective units.
Andrews told council at the June 12 meeting that there is definitely a need for affordable social housing in Didsbury.
Andrews said that Essentials for Our Community works with people in the community who are in need. She detailed many of the programs they provide such as prepaid food cards for local businesses as well as guidance and mentoring.
"While serving this community for the past two years, we have learned some very important facts about those accessing our resources," said Andrews. "Since we began we have served 139 households...We've given out over 600 grocery cards in two years."
Andrews said that most of their clients have some sort of medical condition or injury.
"It's almost impossible to live on the $800 a month social services disability or $1,500 a month AISH that is given to them," she said. "Once rent is paid there is almost nothing left over to live on."
Andrews said many of their clients currently live at the Didsbury Inn because it is the only affordable option in town.
"It's a cramped bedroom with a communal bathroom and a communal kitchen," she said. "The conditions as reported to us by clients are noisy, depressing, invasive, full of people who are struggling with a variety of addictions, unsafe and insecure. We understand at this time there are some discussions about the current social housing units in Didsbury.
"We are surprised by the statement that there appears to not be a need for these units as I have personally sent many people to MVSH over the past seven years in an attempt to apply for these units. They have reported back to me that they could not apply for them because there were none available because the condition of them was unliveable. So they couldn't even register an application, which makes the statistic of how many people need this housing unreliable."
The only question by council in response to Andrews' presentation was from Coun. Dorothy Moore.
Moore stated that the concerns brought up by Andrews were provincial responsibilities.
"It's a slippery slope to take on provincial responsibilities as a municipality," said Moore. "Have you explored every avenue with the province to get social housing?"
Andrews replied saying that the letter from the province was asking each municipality if they had a need for social housing units.
"My understanding at this point in where things are standing based on the letter I had read is that the province has asked you, the town council, to let them know (reading from the letter to council from the province) 'before declaring these units surplus we are asking for confirmation that the need for these units under the social health model are no longer required' – we're letting you know there is a need in the community."
Andrews told the Gazette she is hoping for a meeting with the mayor to discuss the issue further.
"We needed to start there (at council) to make sure that the town's response was that there is a need for social housing," she said. "We were hoping for a better response from town council. I plan to follow up and request a meeting with Mayor Hunter. We are also looking at pursuing notifying the provincial bodies involved that there is a strong need for social housing in Didsbury."
Hunter told the Gazette that council appreciated the information Andrews shared about Essentials for Our Community as well as bringing forth the issues and challenges of local residents.
Hunter said that council based its decision on approving the disposal of the units on the recommendation of MVSH.
"Didsbury has council representation on the MVSH board, and the board has requested of the provincial government to dispose of the four units in Didsbury along with eight in Olds and one in Carstairs," said Hunter.
"The MVSH board made an informed decision that much discussion and thought went into before making this request. We trust their input and recommendation."
Hunter said that rural communities will need to work together and create a louder voice to be more recognized and included in federal funding and strategy for affordable housing.
"As is identified by the government of Alberta, and our town very much agrees, there is an importance of local residents having the ability to stay close to family and friends and live within their communities, and this also applies to residents of Didsbury who have these housing and other social needs," said Hunter.
Smalldon told the Gazette the sites have been needing repairs for years and that there has been no demand over that time.
"They need to be sold so they can be given to private operators to provide housing," said Smalldon. "Letters have gone to each municipality to request any information from any municipality to the government. It would be through your town council."
Smalldon said there are about five steps the province goes through for disposal.
"One is to have a recommendation from our board; two is to have input from each municipality on what their interest is in the housing, if any; if none then it goes to the next stage for provincial government for surplus for sale, then it's put out to market. That process will be handled by the government because it's their asset," he said.
Smalldon said the units in Didsbury have been vacant for a number of years and need a number of repairs.
"At this time, our program doesn't have any use for the asset and it's just sitting vacant," he said. "We're just trying to do the right thing and have it available in the community as housing for someone."
Smalldon said that people can apply at the MVSH website for the family housing units. According to the website, rent is based on 30 per cent of annual gross income. Applicants are prioritized on the basis of need, as determined by income, assets and current housing conditions through a point scoring system.
"We have applications open any time," he said. "We don't have anyone on our wait-list for those programs. We take applications from every municipality and we try to place people in the right municipality based on their application when there is an available unit. We have not had demand for those units. Like I said, it's been several years."
According to the provincial government's affordable housing strategy, government supported affordable housing is managed by the public, non-profit and private sectors at rental rates that are below market rates, based on income. Housing is considered "affordable" when a household spends no more than 30 per cent of its gross income on shelter.
