Sudbury to consider affordable housing proposal near Pearl Street water tower

Greater Sudbury could soon have more affordable housing for low income earners, thanks to provincial money meant to help chronic homelessness.

The City of Greater Sudbury has $5.7 million from the Home For Good project. That's provincial funding allocated to municipalities for supportive housing and services.

A previous project proposed by the Canadian Mental Health Association for an old school building on Lourdes Street, fell through, so the city is now considering new proposals.

One of those proposals comes from a group that includes local developer Dario Zulich, and Eileen Mahood.

Mahood is the president of a charity called the 'I Believe Network', and is the wife of the late Jeremy Mahood, who was a pastor in Sudbury.

Sudbury Peace Tower Housing Project

They propose to use 1.6-hectares of property owned by Zulich near the Pearl Street water tower to create a 38-unit complex that would be run by the non-profit organization.

"There is enough land up there that this 38 unit can actually be phase one of maybe another two or three phases," Zulich said.

He adds his motivation is to give back to the community, that's why he offered up the property for free for the affordable housing project.

"It's driven not by making money. It's driven by doing something good for our community, something good with our lives, you know? We want to leave this world a better place than when we started."

"This is in a formal submission to the City of Greater Sudbury," says Michael Cullen, co-chair of the steering committee for this proposal.

"It's on the table now as a formal, legitimate community-based project that could really do some good work," he said.

Cullen adds there are other partners involved in the proposal, including Habitat for Humanity.

Mahood says her involvement is to help continue the charity and community work she and her husband started together many years ago when they created the not-for-profit, "I Believe Network".

She also sits on the board for an intergenerational housing unit on Morris Street, built 20 years ago by All Nations Church. Eighty per cent of the units there are rent-geared to income.

"It was a dream, but now that dream has some opportunity to become reality," she said of helping house the less fortunate.

This is all about reaching people who have need and creating for them an environment that they can actually be nurtured in, but also grow in.- Eileen Mahood, president of I Believe Network

If the city approves the Pearl Street proposal for the Home for Good project, Mahood says the non-profit organization would operate the building.

"It's not just about the apartment unit, it's about the supportive services for the clients that [would] live there or for the people that are using that, to help them stay integrated in society," she said.

"This is all about reaching people who have need and creating for them an environment that they can actually be nurtured in, but also grow in."

The Pearl Street location would also allow residents of the affordable housing complex to be close to amenities, programs, and other social services located in the downtown core.

The city would not say how many proposals are under consideration. Greater Sudbury City Council will be discussing the proposals at its meeting Mar 10.