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Eric Bunnell's People: Hope Crossing reaches a milestone

As the final residents prepare to move in, YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin looks ahead to its next affordable housing proposal on Hiawatha Street.

The YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin is about to mark a milestone.

With the second-to-last cohort of residents moving in this week at Hope Crossing, the new name for Project Tiny Hope on Kains Street, a final move-in is now set for Oct. 1 – not quite a year to the day the first group of residents was able to call the 40-unit development their new home.

Eric Bunnell's People: Hope Crossing reaches a milestone Back to video

Hope Crossing then will be fully occupied by 66 people.

The year has gone by quickly, says Melissa Kempf, YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin communications manager. The YW-led Project Tiny Hope provides affordable and supportive housing in partnership with Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes.

“It’s been an incredible experience being able to work with local suppliers and builders and, in the long run, it actually came together fairly quickly if you think about 40 homes going up.”

And, already, not without its successes.

“Yes, absolutely,” Melissa says. “We did have one in the first group of tenants who was able to reunite with their family and actually has gone on to a different province.”

Hope Crossing’s secret?

“Giving (residents) space to find their own and not have to worry about the daily stresses of not having a place to live, makes an incredible impact.

“And of course the supportive services that our housing case managers provide helps accelerate those advancements in their goals.”

Although a program house remains to be completed – “we hope in the new year that that will be like the cherry on top” – housing-based case managers are delivering supportive services now.

This week, a barbecue – and Hope Crossing’s established tenants – welcomed the latest residents to a community that now even boasts its own community garden, planted this year with cucumbers, zucchini and squash.

“It’s incredible that the first set of tenants who moved there are kind of acting also as a welcoming committee for the new people moving in.”

And with completion of Hope Crossing in sight, the YW is looking to the future of 53 Hiawatha St.

There, on recently gifted property, the YW proposes construction of a three-and-a-half-storey building of affordable, one-bedroom apartments, creating an intergenerational community of seniors and persons younger than 30 years of age.

After Hope Crossing, “We’re just even more excited to see what Hiawatha’s construction will bring.”

The YW continues to........

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