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A 30-unit transitional housing project in Bathurst is one step closer to opening this spring.
On Wednesday, the provincial government announced $1 million for the project and officials toured the Maple Street location — the site of the former Smurfit-Stone mill — that’s set to open April 1.
David Hickey, the minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said the new units will set up Bathurst to end chronic homelessness in the city.
“This gives this community the right infrastructure in the right place with the right supports to be able to see measurable outcomes. … But also give this community the real ability to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel in this crisis,” said Hickey.
He said the province estimates 60 people are experiencing homelessness in Bathurst and 34 of them are chronically homeless. People who are homeless for six months or longer are considered chronically homeless.
WATCH | Retrofitted units to come fully equipped:
A look inside Bathurst’s new shipping-container units for transitional housing
Thirty transitional housing units are set to open by April 1 on the former site of the Smurfit-Stone mill in Bathurst.
The New Brunswick Housing Corporation will be paying for the new units, which will be built in shipping containers. The cost for the site preparation and construction will cost $1 million.
Elevation Enterprises will be retrofitting the 11 containers, which will include a shared kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms.
Each housing unit will have a bed, desk, window, door, electrical and be fully insulated.
Bathurst’s new 30-unit transitional housing project, which will open in April, will have amenities and services included. There will be a shared kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms. (Victoria Walton/CBC)
The Department of Social Development will fund the service side of the project.
There will be around-the-clock support and services, including access to education, employment and personal finance help, mental health and addictions support, and primary health-care access.
Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said wraparound services will look different for everyone depending on their needs.
“What folks need looks different for everybody. Help building life skills, things that some of us take for granted. Accessing education, opening up dreams and doors for people that thought that their dreams and doors were closed to them,” said Miles.
Miles said she doesn’t have a final number on how much service delivery will cost.
Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said the new transitional housing project in Bathurst should put the city on a path to end chronic homelessness. (Radio-Canada)
The Chaleur Regional Service Commission, which co-ordinates regional public services, will operate the site.
Jennifer Pitre, director of community development with the commission, said along with the 24 staff that will be on site, other partners will come to help out.
“The boots-on-the-ground staff who work day in and day out with our homeless population who are there, you know, through it all … they’re the cherry on the sundae for us. They’re the ones that make all this happen,” said Pitre.
She said the city’s homeless shelter and warming center will also relocate to the new site in April.
The project is permanent, Pitre said, but will operate on the Maple Street site for a year while they find a permanent home.
Due to the shipping container construction, Pitre said the units can be easily transported to a new location.