TORONTO — More than 56 people who are deafblind or living with other physical disabilities will soon have newly built, affordable and accessible housing in Toronto’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore neighbourhood.
The Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) recently broke ground on a new apartment complex that will help reduce CHKC’s waitlist and give more people with vision and hearing loss access to an independent life.
The six-storey building, located at 150 Eighth Street, will have one-, two- and three-bedroom homes alongside a range of shared spaces and amenities, including a rooftop garden. It is scheduled for completion in July 2025.
The complex will also include a 6,500-square-foot training facility where people who are deafblind can learn essential life skills, states a release.
The property is a partnership between CHKC, the City of Toronto and the federal government through CMHC.
Funding for 150 Eighth Street is being provided under the second round of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative. The project has also received incentives from the City of Toronto in the form of waivers of development charges, planning and building fees, and property tax relief on an ongoing basis.
The Kothari Group, Sunita and Vinod Vyas and the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons, have also made donations as CHKC seeks to raise an additional $6 million for this project.
The dual disability of deafblindness impacts over two per cent of Canada’s population, representing 602,160 consumers nationwide and including 246,370 in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada’s latest Canadian Survey on Disability.
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