Indigenous group, church aim to create 'little village' of affordable housing
1 of 2 buildings will provide units for urban Indigenous people
CBC News
Posted: Jun 12, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
A partnership between the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa and an Indigenous-led housing corporation will see the construction of around 50 affordable housing units for Indigenous people west of the city core.
The units will be built on a parcel of land currently being used as a parking lot on the church's six-acre Cleary Avenue property and will be owned and operated by Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS).
The development is expected to have a mix of single and family units.
Cathy Connor, director of housing development with OAHS, said she hopes the units can go a small way toward addressing the lack of affordable housing for urban Indigenous people.
"The numbers are large for the people that need affordable housing. We could build more units … but it is a start," she said. "You have to start somewhere."
Indigenous reconciliation is a key element of the congregation's social justice work, said Brent Nicolle, president of the congregation's board of directors.
"As we sort of embarked down the path of how can we actually develop our campus in a meaningful way, many people had many different ideas to bring into the groupthink of what would be best," he said.
"Indigenous reconciliation was added to that list of things."
A second building is also slated to be built on the church's campus. At 16 storeys, the building will include a mix of affordable rental units and units priced at market rates.
Nicolle said the affordable units will be part of the church's existing campus, which includes a daycare and a senior's residence. It will also be a short walk from the future Sherbourne LRT station.
Now that the plan for the project has been approved by the congregation, Nicolle said steps are underway to begin construction.
"We really feel that we're going to be building a little village," he said.
That idea inspires the project's name, Odayanhaway, which means little village in Ojibway.
Connor said she's looking forward to working on the project with the congregation, which she said is committed to working toward reconciliation.
"The intent was not to partner with somebody just for the purpose only of building affordable housing," she said. "They truly believe in what they're trying to do to help Indigenous people."
The community has been nothing but welcoming so far, Connor said. She added the feeling of support is greatly appreciated — and can be hard to find.
"We have walked into other municipalities and have had a lot of push back," she said. "Not everybody is as willing and open and honest to be able to work with the needs that we feel we need to bring to our development."
With files from CBC Radio's All In A Day
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tawa-1.6872537
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