Last year the Humber Valley Day Care Centre Inc., an incorporated board of the Humber Valley United Church, opened a not-for-profit day-care centre for children in Pasadena. By March 2018 it hopes to have its latest venture — a seniors housing project — completed.
Darren Gardner, chair of the day care board, calls it an incorporated ministry.
“Part of the church is to provide a service and support to the community,” he said. “For us it was kind of a way to extend community outreach services.”
Gardner said the affordable housing project is something the board started working on long before it opened the day-care centre.
Since 2011 it’s been applying for funding for a housing project whenever money became available.
Last week it was announced that the board was successful in securing $1,250,000 from the federal/provincial Investments in Affordable Housing program. It was one of six groups to receive a share of $6.1 million announced — $5.9 million from the federal government and $212,500 from the province.
Gardner said the board, or church, contribution to the project is the land.
The plan is to construct two, five-unit buildings on Church Street on land adjacent to and owned by the church.
Gardner said there’s no doubt about it that the congregation in most churches is an aging one and there is a need for seniors housing within the Humber Valley congregation and the greater community.
He’s confident that the units will be filled as the board already has a list of people who have expressed interest in the facility.
And he said the venture will help with the stability of the church.
Gardner hopes the project will move to the request for proposal stage fairly quickly so that work can start. The aim is to have both buildings under cover by the winter with all the exterior work done.
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