Housing project to help at-risk families rebuild lives
- Tiffany Head | May 26, 2016
Construction of a new housing project is set to begin, following a sod turning ceremony that signals a new chapter for Foxvalley Counselling Services Inc. (FCSI).
An elder smudged and blessed the area where construction of a $3.8 million 14-unit apartment building is set to begin.
FCSI partnered with Silver Sage Holdings Ltd., Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), City of Regina, Affinity Credit Union and the First Nations Power Authority to make this venture a reality.
The building will house at-risk families struggling with addictions, poverty and domestic violence.
More housing stories:
- Province, City of Regina, Housing corporation collaborate for new affordable housing project
- New housing being built across the North
- Funding announced for "Housing First," transitional housing
- Province making home ownership available in the North
- Specialized housing made available in North Battleford
- Flying Dust announces partnership with Habitat for Humanity
Maynard Sonntag, President and CEO of Silver Sage Holdings Ltd., says they provide the building and the services are provided by FSCI.
“What it does, it strives to ensure young families particularly single mother with children to keep children out of foster care,” says Sonntag.
The housing is for clients that are in the FCSI program and they can apply to Foxvalley Services.
“The clients that are involved will graduate through the program after one year but they won’t be in residence for long, after the year is completed, we move them into secondary housing, Silver Sage may provide that secondary housing which is more permanent,” said Sonntag.
Mark Fox, founder and executive director of FCSI since 2011, says the aim of their services is to re-unify families, to get their children out of foster care and keep them out.
“A lot of the families and children end up in foster care and get separated for a long period of time,” said Fox.
FSCI provides In-house services to clients where they provide programs that will teach parents skills, such as cooking, shopping and budgeting to name a few, in order for them to transition to their independence and reach their full potential as parents.
“We work with them hands on, advise them, guide them, and walk with them, they’re the ones that make the plan on which programs to take,” says Fox.
He says that they have a 96 per cent success rate and he attributes that to the parents who want to change and partnerships with other community based programs.
“We have social workers that come out and sit with us regularly and they meet with the families in a regular basis so that there are things happening in a good way and base plans are on track,” says Fox.
He says along with providing 24-hour services, they have a therapist on staff.
Tribal Chairperson and Chair of the Board for Silver Sage Holdings Ltd., Edmund Bellegarde, says that there is a vast need for these kinds of services.
“Were looking at new ways, new public programs to serve the needs of our families, healing our families, making our families stronger,” says Bellegarde, who thinks the project is unique and hopes it spurs more projects.
He says the challenges Indigenous people face are exacerbated even more in a city that presents its own challenges.
Silver Sage has worked closely with the City of Regina under their Affordable Housing Initiative to keep costs for tenants as low as possible
The Foxvalley Family Housing complex will be located on 5525 Dewdney Avenue and will be completed at the end of this Calendar year.
To learn more about FCSI, visit their website.