{"id":3635,"date":"2024-09-10T14:47:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T21:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/?p=3635"},"modified":"2024-09-10T14:55:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T21:55:32","slug":"dze-l-kant-housing-societys-36-unit-indigenous-housing-project-coming-to-houston-bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/housing-society\/dze-l-kant-housing-societys-36-unit-indigenous-housing-project-coming-to-houston-bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Dze L K\u2019ant Housing Society\u2019s 36-unit Indigenous housing project coming to\u00a0 Houston, BC"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

September 10, 2024<\/p>\n

The Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society is pleased to announce that the proposal for a 36-unit affordable Indigenous housing project in Houston has been selected by the Province, through BC Housing, to proceed.<\/p>\n

The project is designed for low income off-reserve homes for Indigenous families, Elders and individuals and will be developed at a municipally owned site (3553 11th Street,\u00a0Houston), via a long-term lease agreement with the District of Houston.<\/p>\n

In 2019 the Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Friendship Centre incorporated the Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society to move forward the strategic goal of increasing affordable housing for Indigenous peoples in the communities of Smithers, Telkwa and Houston, BC. Since then, Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant has undertaken extensive community engagement work to understand the unique housing needs of urban Indigenous people and has been actively pursuing funding to develop new affordable and culturally safe homes.<\/p>\n

The Houston project will be owned and operated by the Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society and, subject to project approvals, will be the society\u2019s second project in partnership with BC Housing. In July 2024, Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant celebrated the groundbreaking of Ken\u2019 Ulh K\u2019it Yikh<\/a>, 1611 Main Street Smithers, which will provide 37 affordable homes by early 2026.<\/p>\n

Between these two projects, the Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society will provide 73 new affordable homes for urban Indigenous people in the communities of Smithers and Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization has witnessed and responded to the unique and rapidly increasing housing challenges facing those we serve, and we are thrilled to have been selected by the Province, through BC Housing, to deliver urgently needed homes in our community,\u201d said Annette Morgan, Executive Director, Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society.<\/p>\n

While the Houston project is still in the early development phase, and many details are still to be determined, the project includes a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, recognizing the need for larger homes for growing families and intergenerational living arrangements. The design will incorporate accessible and adaptable homes for Elders and people living with disabilities, a community gathering space, on-site parking and a children\u2019s play area. The project is located within close proximity to downtown amenities, including the Houston Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Friendship Centre, allowing for a high level of supports and wraparound services for tenants.<\/p>\n

Given the increasing housing crisis in the community, the Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society aims to efficiently move through the design and development process, building upon best practices and lessons learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrawing on our success with the Smithers project, and our experience navigating housing development processes over the past six years, I am confident we are in a strong position to deliver beautiful and thoughtfully designed homes to meet the unique needs of urban Indigenous people in Houston,\u201d said Lydia Howard, Housing Advisor for Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society.<\/p>\n

Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Housing Society gratefully acknowledges our key project partners: the Province, through BC Housing and the District of Houston, as well as Lu\u2019ma Development Management and Studio 9 Architecture + Planning for their steadfast support and expertise.<\/p>\n

We would like to acknowledge the Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en Nation for allowing us to work, play and heal on the territory and all those who have supported our efforts to address the growing and urgent need for affordable rental housing in Houston, in particular the contributions of the local urban Indigenous community during our community engagement processes.<\/p>\n

Media contact: Annette Morgan, Dze L<\/u> K\u2019ant Friendship Centre<\/p>\n

Phone: 250-847-5211<\/p>\n

More information on the projects selected by BC Housing can be found within the Provincial Press Release: <\/span>https:\/\/news.gov.bc.ca\/releases\/2024HOUS0171-001469<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release September 10, 2024 The Dze L K\u2019ant Housing Society is pleased to announce that the proposal for a 36-unit affordable Indigenous housing project in Houston has been selected by the Province, through BC Housing, to proceed. The project is designed for low income off-reserve homes for Indigenous families, Elders and individuals and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3636,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635\/revisions\/3636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dzelkant.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}