Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Hinton offered a sneak peek of its new affordable housing, which consists of 10 modular units, during an open house on Sept. 20.
Kristen Chambers, CAO of the Evergreens Foundation, said over 80 people came through in the two hours, with many inquiring about applications but others simply curious about the final product.
“Right now, the base units are done,” Chambers said.
“There’s a few little deficiencies that we’re still kind of clearing up with the contractors. There’s some more sidewalks and landscaping and groundskeeping stuff to do, but in general, this is the finished product.”
The Boutin Lands Modular Homes project began in December 2021.
The total project cost is $3.2 million, excluding the cost of land, which was donated by the Town of Hinton, and $2.3 million came from the federal Rapid Housing Initiative.
Two units are two bedroom, and the remaining units are single bedroom.
Five of these units are already occupied, while the other five are nearing completion.
“It’s excellent to see that the Town of Hinton took the initiative to go ahead and jump on this grant funding and try to move it ahead, and we learned a lot of lessons through the program,” Chambers said.
“It was fast and it wasn’t necessarily cheap to do, but it’s really nice to see the finished product and to be looking at getting some tenants into some stable housing before the snow flies and that it’s been really successful in the first five, and it’ll be nice to get some families moved into these next ones.”
The Evergreens Foundation will be responsible for managing the homes, and the Town of Hinton will own the land and units themselves.
This housing is intended for certain target populations such those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless, women and their children fleeing domestic violence, Indigenous peoples, racialized groups and people with disabilities, among others.
In addition, their income has to be below the income threshold for the community.
“So, for a one bedroom in Hinton, you would have to be below $41,500 in annual income, and for a two bedroom, you’d have to be below $46,000 in annual income, and then your rent would be calculated based on your income as well,” Chambers said.
“So, it’s 30 per cent of your gross income, is how your rent is calculated, so it can be quite a deep subsidy program.”
Rents include basic utilities, parking with a power outlet and maintenance of the building and exterior spaces.
Applications for this affordable housing are available at the Evergreens Foundation office
