Progress is being made on the new Youth Opportunities Unlimited youth service hub and affordable housing facility on Richmond Street.
The facility is the former home of GT’s Bar and the New Yorker repertory cinema and is being transformed into a one stop shop for youth services and 39 affordable housing units for young moms and young families.
Services will include mental health supports, addiction services supports, employment training and educational program – and bring several organizations together all in one place.
Y.O.U. Executive Director Steve Cordes is excited work is underway and says the first phase of construction is expected to be complete by July.
”I get so passionate about this project because I know on a day-to-day basis I see some of the people that today are impacted by that lack of housing, that lack of safety,” Cordes says.
“I see families or young women that are expecting a baby, but their fear is when that baby comes, will they have the right place to live in?”
Cordes says when the project was first announced the housing vacancy rate was around two per cent, but has since dropped to zero.
He says that means many people often compromise safety or affordability.
The total cost of the project is $15 million. The organization is still raising money for the project, with a goal of raising $8.2 million.
Cordes said that to-date approximately $5.5 million has been raised.
