'Warm, toasty' housing development for seniors opens in North Sydney

A Cape Breton housing project that was imagined by a community group as a way to help struggling seniors has officially opened.

Members of a local food bank, who had been hearing from retirees having trouble keeping up with their bills, including high rent and food costs, came up with the idea about six years ago following the closure of Seton Elementary School in North Sydney.

The organization led the charge to take ownership of the building and transform it into a multi-use hub.

Jimmy MacKinnon and his wife Debbie, among the facility's new tenants, had been finding it increasingly challenging to maintain their rural home. The couple lived in Frenchvale, N.S., for 45 years and regularly cut wood to heat their home.

"I couldn't do it anymore for health reasons," said MacKinnon. "We were lucky, like I said, to get this. Just the burden of looking after your own place, the upkeep. It was hard and it got harder as we got older."

The MacKinnons moved into the complex a couple of months ago. They have since made the space feel like home by decorating the outside of their apartment with wooden signs and colourful flowers.

The former school is home to 19 one- and two-bedroom units. Rental fees, with heat and lights included, range from $625 to $800 per month — well below the market rate for similar apartments in the community. 

The building also contains a community kitchen, food pantry and hair salon. On the grounds are several garden boxes for seasonal vegetables. 

"[This] is a fully incorporated and encompassed type of facility that the community can celebrate and be part of," said Cecil Clarke, mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, at an event Thursday to unveil the project.

It was built with $1.7 million from the federal government through the Affordable Housing Fund and $1.6 million from Nova Scotia's Department of Growth and Development.

Liberal MP Mike Kelloway said housing affordability is an issue his government is trying to address, with the help of organizations like the North Sydney Food Bank Society.  

"You're the solution," he said. "You're the idea makers, you're the people who are in the foxhole every single day."

Lawrence Shebib, co-chair of the food bank society, said there were four times more applicants who were in search of housing than there were available apartments.  

"So there's a real need in the community for more," he said.

MacKinnon said he and his wife have made new friends since moving into the complex and he recommends the style of living to anyone who has reached an age where maintaining their home has become difficult. 

"There's no stress, there's absolutely none. It is free and easy and warm, toasty," said MacKinnon. "This used to be a classroom, believe it or not. And the job these guys did, the tradesmen, it's unreal."