Growing community support for Perth’s newest affordable housing project is helping the local fundraising effort close-in on halfway point of the $300,000 campaign organized by the volunteer group CHIP (Community Housing Initiative Perth).
Donations are needed to complete funding for construction of a new 15-unit affordable housing building underway at 63 Halton Street, across from the Perth Fairgrounds. CHIP’s Claire Smith reminds us of who CHIP is and what they’re doing.
The need for affordable housing has never been greater. The Halton Street project will provide a combination of ‘Rent-Geared-to-Income’ (RGI) and affordable rental units. Affordable rent is capped at 80% of market rent, while RGI rent is calculated based on a range of factors including income. RGI tenants will be drawn from Lanark County Social Service’s approved RGI wait list, while affordable rent tenants will come from a wait list maintained by Carebridge. Clair tells how their final fundraiser is going.
There were just over 400 applicants on Lanark County’s waiting list at the beginning of the year. Now, that number has grown to over 460 applicants who are desperately searching for affordable housing. Claire notes the size of an affordable housing project doesn’t lessen its impact
You can learn more or contribute at www.perthhousing.ca. You can listen to our entire conversation with Claire below.
Story by Brian Turner
