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Ktunaxa Elders get CMHC funding for Reserve Housing pilot project

Reserve House Revitalization Pilot will implement remedies to preserve and revitalize six on-reserve homes
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‘From Lemons to Lemonade’ leverages the many 1960s standard model house designs that still stand on reserves across Canada. The houses lend themselves to adaption to support Elders and Persons with Disabilities seeking to age in place, as well as Young Families just starting out.

A group led by esteemed Ktunaxa Elder Sophie Pierre, OC, OBC, has received $150,000 in funding to advance the development of a pilot project.

The Reserve House Revitalization Pilot will implement and document remedies to preserve and revitalize six on-reserve homes in the Ktunaxa Homelands, including restoring at least one previously abandoned home.

Part of the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge: Innovative Construction for Housing Affordability, the Ktunaxa project is one of 26 shortlisted nationally from 252 applications in the first round. The funds will be used to refine the revitalization concept and prepare a final proposal to CMHC for implementation funds to deliver the pilot.

Nicknamed ‘From Lemons to Lemonade,’ the project leverages the many 1960s standard model house designs that still stand on reserves across Canada. Typically small, rectangular bungalows, the houses lend themselves to adaption to support Elders and Persons with Disabilities seeking to age in place, as well as Young Families just starting out.

Once ubiquitous, many of these houses have been demolished and replaced, while others have fallen into disrepair. But for many reserve residents, particularly Elders, these houses are homes, and their desire is to continue living in their home and community for as long as possible.

“Our communities deal with relentless hardships, but we have developed a resiliency,” Ms. Pierre said. “What we have to work with are small, single-story bungalows that were poorly designed and constructed.

“Still, we have a vision for making them ideal, versatile, efficient and comfortable homes for all types of situations that families face today on reserves.

“We make the best of what we have to work with, and we have even modelled how it is done to non-indigenous communities.”

The project is fuelled by the belief, famously articulated by American architect Carl Elefante, that ‘the greenest building is the one that is already built.’ While building new housing units is essential, we must also preserve our existing housing stock. This indigenous-led initiative proposes an approach of conservation and reuse that stands as a model to society at large.

Ms. Pierre is the former Chief of the ʔaq̓am Band and former Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission.

A national leader in adaptive reuse, Ms. Pierre led the transformation of the residential school at St. Eugene into a golf resort and casino that now serves as an economic engine for her community.

Assisting the Ktunaxa Elders is Ktunaxa Enterprises Limited, a collectively owned Ktunaxa for-profit business, with assistance from Vancouver, BC-based Ance Building Services and Fernie, BC-based Capasiti Consulting.

We are happy to lead the way in modelling smart conservation, innovative adaptation and design efficacy, as thisis what our planet needs today to ensure a sustainable future for all,” Ms. Pierre said.

More information on the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge can be found at: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/



Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998.
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