THE CANADIAN Helen Keller Centre has reveived $32 million in federal funding to go ahead with construction in New Toronto
The Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) is getting closer to becoming a reality for deafblind people in our community.
The Centre has announced it will receive federal capital funding through the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) to build a new $38 million affordable and supportive housing building at 150 Eighth Street.
The site was a former location for decades of a Royal Canadian Legion Branch, which has since shut.
DEAFBLIND residents in the community will be able to receive treatment nearby.
The fully-accessible and affordable apartment complex will include over 56 units of one, two and three bedrooms, 25 to 30 of which will be reserved for Canadians who are deafblind, according to the CHKC. The remainder of the units will be reserved for people with general disabilities.
The CHKC will receive $32 million from Ottawa’s RHI and will be required to raise an additional $6 million required from donors.
Since 1992, CHKC has also operated another fully accessible and affordable apartment building with 16 units for tenants who are deafblind in Willowdale.
HELEN KELLER members at one of their centres.
This latest funding will ensure that CHKC can further meet the housing needs of Canadians who have dual sensory loss, officials said.
“This exciting new initiative will allow us to reach more Canadians with deafblindness, ensuring they can live as independently as possible,” said CHKC Executive Director Jennifer Robbins.
With 34 people on CHKC’s wait list, more people with a combination of hearing and sight loss will have access to a more independent life.
“The new apartment building will house a 6,500 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Training Centre where Canadians who are deafblind can gain important life-skills to aid in their independence,” Robbins said.
RHI is a federal capital funding program that aims to rapidly create new affordable rental housing for marginalized people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
There were seven projects announced that will create 260 new affordable and supportive homes in Toronto and grow the capacity and expertise of Toronto’s non-profit housing development sector.
The other projects includes: Wigwamen Incorporated, 525 Markham Rd., Akwa Honsta Non-Profit Aboriginal Homes, 136 Kingston Rd., St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society, 1120 Ossington Ave., Canadian Helen Keller Centre, 150 Eighth St., WoodGreen Community Housing, 60 Bowden St. and 1080 Queen St. E., and St. Felix Centre, 25 Augusta Ave.