Key takeaways:
- Council’s executive committee approves the city will back the task with $7.3M.
- The Coliseum Inn on 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive has been utilized for bridge accommodation during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Permanent housing in Edmonton for homeless citizens:
The Coliseum Inn on 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive is slated to become a permanent accommodation complex for 98 individuals undergoing homelessness in Edmonton.
The City council’s executive committee approved Wednesday the city should be a portion of the project — directed by housing agency Homeward Trust — to transform the 45-year-old hotel into bachelor flats.
The deal implicates the city donating $7.3 million to the task, counting to $11 million from the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative Project.
The deal requires conclusive support from the council as an entire, anticipated next week.
Ashley Salvador, councilor for Ward Métis, where the inn is located, stated accommodation and homelessness are some of the most significant problems for constituents.
Read more: Neighborhood groups working to embark on regional homelessness in Alberta
“I’ve heard from so many Edmontonians and individuals in Ward Métis that they want to see helpless community members watched for,” Salvador stated Wednesday.
“The rise in encampments has caused homelessness visual in our communities, so I think that this is going to be a welcome extra.”
‘This is massive’
Susan McGee, Homeward Trust CEO, stated that the number of homeless individuals has gone up substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a greater challenge in terms of precluding, holding our eye on the ball, making certain that we’re delivering a full spectrum of supports and accommodation alternatives,” McGee suggested CBC News in an interview Wednesday. Source – cbc.ca
The Coliseum Inn transformation would add to five tasks — several 400 units — presently being constructed under the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation quick housing schedule.
