Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Jill Sperling

Housing Development

Multi-unit affordable housing project marks new era for Habitat for Humanity

Nov 4, 2019 | 5:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — Habitat for Humanity has teamed up with Kamloops Immigrant Services to develop a multi-story commercial and residential building on Tranquille Road.

“Habitat for Humanity’s values mimic our values to provide good services and good support for families in need and people in need, so I think it’s a win-win,” said KIS Executive Director France Lamontagne. “I just can’t wait for all this to progress.”

Lamontagne says KIS welcomes an average of 600 new clients each year, and she expects that number to grow.

“Canada is opening the doors to more immigrants each year and a lot of people choose rural or semi-rural areas for a better quality of life,” she said. “And, Kamloops is certainly the best place to live in B.C., so I’m sure we’ll see many more coming.”

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For these newcomers, it can be challenging to find housing.

“Finding housing is difficult for everyone in Kamloops at the moment, especially for newcomers who probably do not have the job they dream of having,” Lamontagne said. “So, they are in entry-level positions a lot of the time, or they’re in training to have new credentials.”

The building will be constructed at the current headquarters of KIS at 448 Tranquille Rd. It will include up to 30 residential suites on the upper floors with commercial offices and services on the ground floor.

“We hope the current building, we know it can accommodate another story, we’d like to explore if it could accommodate two-to-three stories and then we can work with this foundation, it’s a very strong building,” Lamontagne said. “And then at the back… we’d be looking at five-to-six stories.”

It’s a different kind of project for Habitat for Humanity.

The non-profit best known for its one-house-at-a-time volunteer projects is taking on larger builds to increase impact.

“The old Habitat model was one house at a time, and most of the builds were done by volunteers and by donors who provide the materials,” said Habitat Kamloops Executive Director Bill Miller. “We’re kind of moving away from that. We will still do it, but we’re moving more into higher density, multi-family, and vertical construction. So, there will be a nominal amount of work done by volunteers. There will be some opportunity for volunteers to participate, but not at the level it used to be.”

The project is expected to take 18-to-24 months to complete.

“We’re excited about working with the [Immigrant Services] and we think it’s a good fit,” Miller said. “We’re happy to have entered into a relationship with them, I think we can bring our expertise and capacity and blend it with theirs.”