The Northern City Supportive Housing Coalition has released more details of its proposed 20-unit, community-owned supportive and affordable housing project.

The coalition is a non-profit organization which has been working for more than a year to develop a community-based solution to the local housing shortage.

Whitehorse is characterized by some of the lowest vacancy rates in Canada, at 0.6 per cent in June 2010, the coalition noted in a statement today.

"The result is a shortage of affordable and safe housing options, particularly for the most marginalized individuals in our community,” the group said.

"These individuals end up residing permanently at the emergency services shelter, on the street, camping in all seasons, or couch surfing.”

"The lack of housing for this community's most vulnerable and at-risk individuals is absolutely shameful,” said Kate Mechan, part of the project co-ordination team.

"We have an emergency services shelter providing long-term housing and in some instances, palliative care, simply because there aren't really any other places for the chronically street-involved to go. We need units of safe, affordable and supported housing in this city.”

The proposed project is a new residential construction of 20 units of supported and affordable housing, grounded in the Housing First approach.

The building would be located on a city lot in the downtown core and built to high sustainable standards, featuring self-contained units modeled similarly to a hotel, with basic cooking facilities, accessible bathrooms, common areas, a front desk, and office space for counselling and support service provision.

"Housing First is becoming widely adopted in cities around North America because: 1) it has very high success rates in terms of transitioning tenants into more autonomous market housing and supporting them in overcoming challenges with addiction and mental illness; and 2) it results in significant cost savings to governments and taxpayers through reductions in the use of emergency services,” said Laird Herbert, another member of the project co-ordination team .

"Almost every major city in Canada now features a Housing First development. In a southern Canadian context, the cost savings are estimated to be anywhere from $16,000 to $28,000 per unit of supportive housing annually.”

By contrast, it can cost up to $134,000 per chronically homeless individual to leave that person un-housed, Herbert said.

"In a northern context, particularly in the city of Whitehorse, where there is high use of emergency services, the cost savings of a Housing First development could be significantly higher.”

Since last April, the coalition has being working on a submission to the Yukon Housing Corp. for federal affordable-housing funding through the Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI).

This funding would cover half of the building capital costs, with the remaining costs coming from mortgage financing. The target residents are subsidized for rent up to $501/month through social assistance and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

This income would cover the cost of the project's mortgage and some of the building's operating and maintenance costs.

The coalition is in discussions with the territorial government regarding the remaining staffing costs to cover the 24 hours of staffing support.

"We've come a really long way on this initiative,” said Mechan.

"The strength in the project lies in the fact that it truly is a community collaborative effort; it is the community responding to the crisis of housing in our city, and that, together with the amount of work that has been completed, is why we believe it's the strongest proposal currently on the table.”

The coalition has received generous in-kind donations, representatives said. Those include a collaborative donation of more than $125,000 annually toward staffing and programming costs from the eight non-profits which sit on the coalition's steering committee.

The architect has completed in-kind conceptual designs for the project, as well as donating more than $100,000 in savings on the complete drawings and schematics.

Volunteers have invested more than 1,250 hours of time to the project, something the coalition calls a demonstration of their commitment to see the project to fruition.

"This project is based on a strong and successful model,” said Bill Thomas, also part of the project co-ordination team.

"Housing First is successful because it is effective in stopping the revolving door of homelessness. It brings people home. It brings people into the community.”

So far, the coalition has done detailed financial planning with assistance from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., secured a building and design team, including in-kind conceptual drawings, identified potential property locations, and secured a prospective lender.

"Together with the submission to Yukon Housing Corporation and our ongoing negotiations with the territorial government, (the coalition) hopes to begin construction in late summer/early fall 2011,” the group said.

"However, at present, construction is contingent on their full support.

The coalition officially launched its website today at:

www.northerncityhousing.org

It will hold its annual general meeting on Jan. 17. Further details regarding time and location will be advertised.

The coalition consists of community members, representatives from eight key non-profit social service providers, and a core group of volunteers.