An affordable housing project originally envisioned as an option for adults with disabilities is no longer being pursued.
A planned expansion to St. Albert’s North Ridge Lodge is now being planned as a residence for seniors, said Paul Krauskopf, board chair of the Sturgeon Foundation, the non-profit that operates the lodge.
The board decided to change the focus at a meeting about a month ago because its core mission is to provide affordable housing for seniors, Krauskopf said.
The decision means there will continue to be few affordable housing options in St. Albert for people who receive benefits from Alberta’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program.
“The board never promised any AISH recipients that there would be a place for them to live in St. Albert,” Krauskopf said. “What the Sturgeon Foundation does is affordable housing for seniors, so rather than branching out to something new, we’ll stay with what we know.”
The foundation just applied for provincial funding for a 42-unit addition. It’s the same project that it applied for last year, but at that time the focus was on adults with disabilities. There was concern this time around that having people with special needs would require supports the lodge couldn’t provide, Krauskopf said.
St. Albert resident Shirley McLeer was hoping the project would go through so her son would have a place to live.
“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “I feel that too many of our young people with disabilities have to move into Edmonton.
“St. Albert should be stepping up to the plate to look after its own,” she added.
There’s a strong need in St. Albert for accommodation, said Marie Renaud of the Lo-Se-Ca Foundation.
“We’re inundated all the time with requests … people looking for an affordable, accessible spot,” she said.
Mayor Nolan Crouse was a supporter of the Sturgeon Foundation’s original vision. When the foundation was defining the concept, he said adults with disabilities were a segment that was being missed by local affordable housing efforts.
At last count, the city had identified about 130 disabled adults from the city who are living in Edmonton because there’s no place for them in St. Albert.
“There still remains the need to make sure that we have [places for] adults with disabilities,” he said.
St. Albert council voted to provide the Sturgeon Foundation with $257,000 to help with its bid for provincial dollars. The council agenda package, used as background to inform council’s decision-making, contained a letter dated May 26 of this year signed by executive director Marguerite Bosvik.
The letter stated the addition was to accommodate adults who “are functionally independent, have special need, and may receive income subsidies through AISH.”
The addition would also include seniors who are homeless or of moderate income, the letter states.
Since the letter was written, Bosvik and the foundation have parted ways because they “wanted to move in different directions,” said board member Coun. Wes Brodhead.
No one is providing details about Bosvik’s departure but it wasn’t centred on the issue of AISH recipients versus seniors, Krauskopf said.
