170 unit supportive housing complex coming to Kitchener, men’s shelter on Charles St. being demolished

A development being built on Charles Street in Kitchener will provide 170 units of supportive housing, along with health and addiction services, to those experiencing homelessness.

Friendship Village will be operated by House of Friendship, a local charity that’s been helping those in need in Waterloo Region for about 85 years.

According to Jennifer Scott, housing director with House of Friendship, they support 42,000 families each year who are facing housing insecurity with access to food, housing, community resources, and addiction treatment.

“When you integrate health within housing, people can exit that cycle of homelessness,” said Scott.

Friendship Village is being built on the site of a former House of Friendship building at 63 Charles St. E. that offered housing support to men in Waterloo Region for four decades.

Demolition on the old building began last week.

House of Friendship has been offering shelter care in Waterloo Region for the last 18 months, and Smith says they’ve been seeing great results.

Scott says nearly 50 per cent of people who have found shelter care with House of Friendship access their health supports as well, helping to break the cycle of homelessness.

“We’re really trying to focus on supporting the full person to recovery in shelter care,” said Scott. “What we’re seeing then is when they’re moving into the community, we’re not seeing a lot of folks coming back to us.”

The first phase of construction on their new building is set to begin as soon as demolition is complete.

Scott says House of Friendship is still working on finalizing construction timelines for the project, and says it will be a “few years” before construction on Friendship Village is complete.