(CFJC Today/File photo).
Katherine's Place

Province partners with A Way Home Kamloops to build 39-unit apartment for homeless youth and young adults

Sep 20, 2021 | 10:49 AM

KAMLOOPS — The B.C. government has announced it is partnering with A Way Home Kamloops and a local developer on a proposal to provide 39 new homes for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in the community.

A 39-unit building would be built at the empty lots on 560-562 Tranquille Rd. and have supports for people aged 19 to 26. The building would also include commercial space, which would be used by A Way Home Kamloops for its offices.

If approved, the building will be named Katherine’s Place after the late Katherine McParland, the former executive director of A Way Home Kamloops, as an acknowledgment of her life-changing impact on local youth and to continue her legacy by providing services to young people who are at risk or experiencing homelessness.

Katherine’s Place is expected to be built at 560-562 Tranquille Rd. (Google Maps).

“Katherine McParland had a dream that we would one day provide a home to many young people in a place where they would feel supported and loved, where all of the wraparound supports they require would be available,” A Way Home Kamloops Executive Director Tangie Genshorek states.

A Way Home Kamloops would operate the building. It would include staff on site 24/7 and provide residents with meals, counselling, life skills training, and employment and education support. The non-profit would also support residents to access community health services.

The province says the lots on Tranquille Road are already zoned for this use and a development permit application has been submitted to the City of Kamloops.

If approved, funding for the project will come from the Province’s Building BC: Supportive Housing Fund.

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