A proposed housing project would provide ‘round-the-clock support to residents who may otherwise find themselves with no place to live.

"It's a great, innovative project,” Laird Herbert of the Northern City Supportive Housing Coalition told city council at its meeting Monday night.

In a presentation to council, he and Kate Mechan, who also heads up the organization formed to make the housing project a reality, outlined the group's proposal to council in the hopes of gaining the city's support.

Mechan explained the group got its start out of discussions she and Herbert had over the "housing crisis” in the city.

Wanting to address the need for those who can't seem to find permanent housing, the pair worked to get others on board forming the coalition with members of a number of organizations around the city.

Since then, she said, the vision to address that need has taken the form of a proposed 20-unit "low-barrier” housing development.

The project would be built to green standards with a properly-zoned downtown property already being held to be sold to them as they wait for word on funding from a variety of sources. Those potential sources include the Yukon Housing Corp., the territorial and federal governments, First Nations and others, they said.

Rent, which would be based on social assistance rates, is proposed to cover the maintenance costs on the building.

The group is still looking at ways to come up with the approximately $240,000 to cover the salaries of a co-ordinator, two case managers and three residential support workers.

As Herbert explained, it's been shown in many cases that 24-hour support is key for some of the most marginalized people who would be calling the building home.

"These are people who have burned bridges,” Mechan said.

The project is aimed at providing housing and support to those who may have been evicted from several apartments or motels and need support for everyday living.

"Staff is key,” she said.

Commitments have also come from officials with the local outreach van to visit the building, once it's operating, three nights a week.

There are ongoing discussions with territorial departments like Health and Social Services and Justice about their potential involvement, Herbert and Mechan told council.

Support from the city could mean requests to waive required fees and taxes when the project goes ahead.

For now, the group is asking the city to simply vocalize its support to others that would be involved like the Yukon government, they said.

"Other models show municipalities have a strong role,” Mechan said, later citing examples of similar projects in Yellowknife, Vancouver, Toronto and New York.

Though council made no formal commitments to the project last night, the initiative appears to have at least one council member behind it.

"This has been an issue for years here,” Coun. Ranj Pillai said.

He went on to note the "fantastic work” that has gone into creating a concrete proposal out of their initial desire to do something about housing in the city.

Pillai also noted the assistance the city has offered to Habitat for Humanity projects in the form of fees and taxes being granted for their affordable housing projects aimed at those unable to get a traditional bank mortgage.