Soon-to-be-built elders housing in Thompson is in demand

A northern Manitoba city will soon have a new affordable housing complex for seniors and elders — and Bobbi Montean hopes she'll get to move into it.

"I'm really, really, really excited for those that are going to be getting in there, and I'm hoping I'm one of them," said Montean, who has mobility issues but lives on the third floor of a building that doesn't have an elevator.

Construction has just begun on the Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre senior complex, a 12-unit building in the heart of Thompson, and Montean's not the only one already dreaming of living there, said Dee Chaboyer, executive director of the friendship centre.

"It's funny, because they sit outside and watch construction, knowing that one day they get to move in there and it's their own apartment," Chaboyer said in an interview on Tuesday.

The senior's complex is expected to be complete by July 2024.

The funding sources for the project still aren't public because the funders haven't signed official paperwork, but they're expected to be announced at an official groundbreaking next month, Chaboyer said.

The friendship centre also owns a hostel in the city, which provides rooms for people from outlying communities seeking medical care and transitional housing geared toward people who are experiencing homelessness.

Some of the transitional housing is currently occupied long-term by elders, Chaboyer said.

"The intent of transitional housing is not to keep them forever. It's to help them transition into independent living, but I made a decision that I wasn't going to ask them to move," she said.

"There is nowhere in Thompson that is safe, quality and affordable housing for elders to live in that's vacant, so they will actually be moving into the [new] apartment block."

The complex will have eight regular apartment suites and four wheelchair-accessible suites, with a common area and an outdoor barbecue area, as well.

"It's huge," said Corey Jervis, a contractor with A&B Builders who is project manager and supervisor for the project.

"Before, there used to just be a condemned building there, and to see Ma-Mow-We-Tak take it over, tear it down and they're going to build this huge, three-storey facility that's going to pretty much tower over this whole area of the town — it's going to be a statement building in the area."

Bhumi Patel, a property manager with Manitoba Housing in Thompson, said they have one accessible, affordable housing location for seniors in Thompson.

There's lots of demand for the 32 units in Lions Manor, which are often all full, Patel said.

Montean, who is in her 60s, said her mobility issues often keep her from leaving her current third-floor apartment.

"I'm not in a wheelchair yet, but I know that's coming, and having to get up and down flights of stairs into an apartment that I can just barely afford is a severe struggle," she said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Montean's disability forces her to postpone medical appointments and stay inside some days, she said.

Living in an accessible building would mean being able to visit neighbours, go outside more easily and even take a slow walk to the grocery store, she said.