Supportive housing opens at Foxridge

Foxridge, located at 761 2nd Street SE, contains 4 bachelor suites and 24 one-bedroom suites, a common laundry room and an office. (Photo by BC Housing)

Foxridge, the $3.5-million housing development in Salmon Arm, which will house people with mental health issues and those at risk of homelessness, is now officially open! On September 10, 2010 officials of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Province of British Columbia and Interior Health Authority, along with the developer and a tenant of Foxridge, each with scissors in hand, shared in the long-awaited ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

“The Province is committed to providing affordable housing options with integrated support services to help people in need to find their own path to becoming productive members of the community,” said George Abbott, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and MLA for Shuswap. “Strong partnerships have made Foxridge housing development a reality that will benefit a range of individuals, their families and friends.”

One facet of the development is Foxridge, located at 761 2nd Street SE and containing four bachelor suites and 24 one-bedroom suites, a common laundry room and an office. Comprehensive on-site support services, focusing on promoting integration into the community, will be provided by Interior Health Authority.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 10 included officials of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Province of British Columbia and Interior Health Authority, along with the developer and a tenant of Foxridge. (Photo by BC Housing)

Next door to Foxridge is Foxcroft, at 781 – 2nd Street SE, with 11 2-bedroom strata apartments for sale to qualified buyers through the Foxcroft affordable homeownership program. Readers can access information about the program at http://www.foxcrofthousing.ca

Both Foxridge and Foxcroft are managed by the Salmon Arm branch of the CMHA which serves Salmon Arm, Blind Bay, Sorrento, Falkland, Sicamous, Enderby, Tappen and Revelstoke. The main goal of the organization is to develop a support system for individuals living with a mental illness. Life skills, pre-vocational training, socialization, counselling referrals, housing, community awareness and education are available to the residents of Foxridge through the CMHA.

The BC Government has announced that it is investing over $562 million in affordable housing and to fight homelessness in 2010-2011. Readers can find out more about provincial programs and services to address homelessness on their website, ‘Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness’ at http://www.bchousing.org/breakingthecycle