A board member with the Antigonish Affordable Housing Society says they’ve reached an incredible milestone.
Janet Becigneul says they’ve opened more doors for low-income residents.
She says the project has been 20 years in the making.
Becigneul says all 14 of their units are already spoken for.
“(Of the) 25 people living there, four of them are children under 13,” she says. “There are families, single adults (and) people who live with disabilities who now have a good quality accessible apartment to live in.”
Becigneul says they held tours during their grand opening of their 10 new units Saturday; they previously opened four units in March.
She says some people have already had success after moving into the affordable house- one former resident, without the worry of costly housing, returned to school and was able to secure a job and move out of the units.
Becigneul says they have no plans on stopping now.
“The demand is very big- we have many, many more people apply and qualify than we were able to provide housing for,” she says. “There are many people who still are in need, so we’re going to continue- this is our first build only, it’s not ending here at all, it’s just starting.”
Becignuel says they’re still going to continue fundraising to pay off their mortgage quicker and build more housing because they’re very excited to share the project with a larger community.
She says affordable housing is an important element of poverty reduction.