SECHELT, B.C. — Members of the shíshálh Nation are moving into new affordable homes with the opening of 34 rental units in a new building in Sechelt, B.C.
Located at 5573 Sunshine Coast Hwy., the project is the result of a partnership between the Province of B.C. through BC Housing, the federal government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and the shíshálh Nation, a release said.
The building, named Our House of Clans, features homes ranging in size from studios to three bedrooms and amenities include a large multipurpose room with a community kitchen, a conference area, spaces for social programming, fitness and entertainment and offices for shíshálh Nation staff along with available retail spaces on the ground floor.
“Our House of Clans is a monumental achievement for our nation. We recognize the lands where it has been built, and we feel empowered to make a positive change. Our House of Clans will provide much-needed affordable housing for our membership and is just the start of our housing projects,” shíshálh Chief (lhe hiwus) Lenora Joe said in a statement.
Our House of Clans is constructed on land that is sacred to the shíshálh Nation, the release said, and is the site of the former St. Augustine’s Indian Residential School administration buildings.
A Reconciliation Plaza will house a totem called Carving Tears into Dreams of Reconciliation, created by the late shíshálh master carver Tony Paul. The totem was developed and organized by the syiyaya Reconciliation Movement with more than 1,500 people assisting with the carving.
The Province of B.C. is contributing $7.2 million to the project through the Indigenous Housing Fund and the federal government through CMHC is contributing $2.8 million through its Affordable Housing Fund.
shíshálh Nation contributed the land valued at $1.2 million and $570,000 in equity.
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