Family ecstatic to move into affordable home of their own for the holidays

Adriana Chow has been without a home for three years, but now she and her three boys are about to get a place to call their own, just in time for the holidays.

Chow and her sons are one of 10 families set to move into Journey House 2, the second building of a permanent, supported housing program for families provided by Inn from the Cold, a Calgary non-profit.

"If it wasn't for Journey House, I'd probably still be in the shelter," Chow told CBC News.

"This is my first time seeing everything. I'm very happy and it's very overwhelming."

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Journey House 2 is located in Crescent Heights.

Inn from the Cold purchased the building — which was originally built in the 1980s — in June and began renovations to bring it up to code, as well as transform the units into three-bedroom apartments to alleviate the need for affordable-housing for larger families in Calgary.

The organization pushed to get the building ready for families to move in before Christmas.

"These are families who have recently spent some time in emergency shelter, typically due to economic circumstances," said Abe Brown, executive director of Inn from the Cold.

Families are ranked by need, and the non-profit tries to house them as quickly as possible. 

Families stay in emergency shelters for an average of 40 days, Brown said, but for the majority of families that have three children or more, it's "critical" to give them an option to transition out of the shelter and into a more permanent housing solution.

"The City of Calgary's own numbers tell us that 76 per cent of all affordable housing in the city is two-bedroom or smaller. What this means is any of the families that are larger end up being trapped in homelessness, simply because of a shortage of available supply," Brown said.

Families will pay 30 per cent of their income toward rent in the building, and a partnership between Inn from the Cold and the Calgary Homeless Foundation subsidizes the rent as necessary so the total each family pays ends up being equal to the current market rate.

Families are fully independent and have privacy, but are supported by caseworkers. 

Chow said "it's been rough" since she was evicted from her last home in 2014. 

But, things started looking up when she moved into Journey House 1, another building rented and operated by Inn from the Cold, where she's supported by staff, has her own small apartment, and can send her kids (ages 12, 10 and 6) to school.

Now, at Journey House 2, her oldest son will have his own bedroom for the first time.

"It's exciting, I keep thinking about the boys' reaction," she said.

"I think they'll be speechless at first, like me. As soon as they know they'll have their rooms, they're going to be really happy."

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