Deeply affordable 412 Barton opens
The $8.3-million project led by St. Matthew’s House will offer housing to 15 people facing homelessness, with a special focus on Black and Indigenous seniors and women.
Two years ago, on another blustery December day, ground was officially broken at the site of a dream to house 15 people facing homelessness at 412 Barton St. E. This week, the ribbon was cut on the six-storey, $8.3-million infill site and seniors struggling to keep a roof over their heads are about to move into their new homes.
Fifteen deeply affordable units are earmarked for people 55-plus, with a special focus on Indigenous and Black adults, designating 50 per cent of the units for women.
The initiative is a collaboration between St. Matthew’s House, the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre and the Afro-Canadian Caribbean Association. The three organizations have worked together on resident selection, and the support services that will help seniors rebuild their lives and create their new homes.
Renée Wetselaar, executive director of St. Matthew’s, says she hopes the project can serve as a model for other supportive housing ventures. She said sometimes bold action requires breaking some rules.
“Fifteen people who are currently unhoused will have a permanent place to live and 50 per cent of them are women, who face disproportionately higher rates of homelessness and hidden homelessness than men in Hamilton and in Canada.”
Wetselaar thanked early donors to the project, who offered organizers courage and confidence they were on the right path.
Black and Indigenous seniors facing homelessness will get to “define their own lives and homes here,” said Evelyn Myrie, of the ACCA at the ribbon-cutting.
Creating a home is “sacred work,” said Bishop Susan Bell of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, which contributed $100,000 to the project. When people have a home, they have hope and can rediscover their community and their purpose, she said.
The 15-unit, six-storey structure was constructed off-site and then assembled in less than three months on a narrow Barton Street lot that was once home to the SMH food bank before the agency shifted to a delivery model. The multi-service non-profit’s headquarters is next door.
The new building and the individual studio units feature lots of natural light and high ceilings clad in wood. There is a full kitchen in each unit, including a dishwasher, and each floor has laundry facilities. Each unit has an accessible washroom, a TV and a single bed.
Residents will find the help they need to access government and social services, along with help with their nutrition, mental health, physical mobility, and spiritual needs.
412 Barton was supported by $3.85 million from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Rapid Housing Initiative through the National Housing Strategy.
There was a $1 million community capital campaign and the City of Hamilton’s $41 million affordable housing accelerator fund, which is backing more than 2,100 new housing units that are underway, also contributed more than $850,000 to the project.
Mayor Andrea Horwath said she’s lost count of the number of ribbon-cuttings and sod-turnings she’s attended for affordable housing projects this year and that’s a good problem to have.
“We all know we have a crisis,” she said. “We can’t keep doing things the same way and expect to address the crisis we face. She said the building represents the “way forward for 15 people who can take back their ability to live a good life in our city.”
Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann said 412 Barton will “deeply service those who deserve love, respect and dignity.”
A press release announcing an official ribbon-cutting said: “A through thread of the entire project is the knowledge that the land upon which 412 Barton is being constructed originally belonged to Indigenous people and the good folks at St. Matthew’s House are working on this project as an action of truth and reconciliation. SMH sees this as an act of reconciliation and inclusion of the Indigenous and Black communities in the work of equity and justice together.”
