SCO and Eden propose The Bridge on 3rd

New affordable housing that includes comprehensive mental health supports could see shovels in the ground as early as 2027.

Steinbach Community Outreach and Eden Healthcare Services presented their plan for the new 30-bed facility during the strategic priorities committee meeting on Tuesday.

They explained that 15 tenants will have access to specialized clinical programming including psychiatric care, medication management, life-skills coaching and 24/7 response.

The remaining 15 clients will live in suites similar to The Bridge at 224 Woodhaven. Mental health supports can also be accessed by those clients.

SCO office manager Charlene Kroeker told council that their first year of running The Bridge was a learning curve, and they discovered that poverty and mental health issues go hand in hand.

“The one thing we did not anticipate was how high the mental health needs of our tenants were, and how tied to property management it was,” she told council through a PowerPoint presentation. “That is what we are hoping to address in this next build.”

Supportive housing for people requiring intensive mental health support does not exist in Steinbach according to Kroeker.

“We hope to increase the rate of people exiting homelessness or have unstable housing, by transitioning them into supportive affordable housing,” she said.

Many would be people who are currently accessing Today House, a high barrier shelter operated by SCO.

Originally the two organizations had announced plans for two separate buildings, one managed by Eden with 45 units, and one operated by SCO with 24 units.

“Purchasing land that would support both buildings was not viable,” she told council. “We simply could not afford it.”

The new proposal also includes 1,000 square feet for Eden clinicians to work from and host group activities in.

Located at 326 Third Street, the new building will feature an even split of bachelor and one-bedroom apartments with six that are wheelchair accessible.

Suites will include deeply affordable rates and are pet friendly.

“We have a lot of people that come to us and say I’d rather be homeless than give up my dog or give up my cat,” Kroeker said.

The partnership between SCO and Eden is important and Kroeker said it is ongoing.

SCO works with residents of Wilson Courts and Penfeld Courts to offer poverty relief supports to many who are their clients at the drop-in centre. Eden offers advice about mental health issues and property management questions related to mental health for tenants at The Bridge on Woodhaven.

“By combining our talents, we can make a substantial difference in housing the most vulnerable in our community,” Kroeker said.

Leighton Knapp, program director for Eden Health Services, said housing with mental health supports makes a huge difference.

“Over 90 percent of the tenants who we worked with before coming into Eden Housing have experienced unstable housing histories,” he told council of their Winkler experience, adding those histories often include multiple evictions, inability to secure housing and transience.

Since coming under the Eden umbrella, 92 percent of tier-3 tenants maintain tenancy for over 8 years. All of their tier-4 tenants have maintained stable tenancy over the past 2 years.

Before connecting with Eden Housing, tenants have an average of 1.8 mental health related hospitalizations per year averaging over 40 days in hospital per person. After connecting with Eden they average between 0.1 and 0.2 admissions with reduced length of stays.

“It reduces your use of hospitalization, mostly ER visits,” he said of having stability that comes with increased access to health care, increased access to income sources, reduced rates of malnutrition, and better management of chronic illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease.

Kroeker told council that they expect the building to have a positive impact on the neighbourhood, noting there has been no increase in crime or other concerns at The Bridge on Woodhaven.

“We are teaching people how to become good neighbours,” she said.

The project does come with a steep price tag.

The report states that the land costs $800,000 while construction is estimated at $6.2 million.

But funding is starting to appear.

The province of Manitoba has made available $250,000 in predevelopment funding.

Donations so far already total nearly $1.04 million, while SCO has committed $550,000 and Steinbach Credit Union has confirmed up to $2.7 million in funding.

Kroeker said they will be launching a fundraising campaign this summer.

“If fundraising goes well, we feel we can have shovels in the ground within a year,” she said noting that was the best-case scenario. “We expect it will probably take two to three (years).”