The federal government and the non-profit Edmonton 2 Spirit (E2S) announced $6.4 million in funding on Friday for supportive housing helping Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people get out of gender-based violence situations.
The project, which will fund two buildings with 24 supportive living spaces, “will cater to their unique needs including vulnerability to violence, trauma and further marginalization affecting their physical and mental health,” according to a media release from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
On-site support programs will be available to residents.
“Some of the most marginalized people in our community are people from the two-spirit community,” Randy Boissonnault, the member of parliament for Edmonton-Centre and the federal minister of employment, workforce development and official languages, told media following the announcement on empty land on 142 Street in the Grovenor neighbourhood.
“The fact we had a grassroots organization – which had been funded in the past, and now, by the federal government – that was able to come up with a really good concept and work with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to say, ‘Look, we’ve got a lot of vulnerable people and we need to have a space where they can have a refuge’ … is a really big deal.”
He said the funding of the project “also shows our federal programs have enough flexibility to reflect the diversity we have on the ground.”
“To have 24 spaces with wrap-around support so that (residents) can find their way is a really big deal, and I think it speaks to compassion, to empathy, and it gives people dignity,” Boissonnault said.
The $6.84 million comes through the federal Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative, which is delivered by CMHC. A subsidy from Indigenous Services Canada will be used for ongoing operations and support.
The funding comes via Ottawa’s 10-year, $115-billion-plus National Housing Strategy.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall