Transitional housing for Indigenous families in Edmonton to open in October

More transitional housing is coming to Edmonton this fall to assist families moving from Indigenous communities into the city. 

Buffalo Keeper NehiYaw Centre, a charity that offers programs and resources like housing and cultural education, is preparing six units for tenants to occupy starting in October. 

"We already have a family waiting to move in," said Brad Seneca, co-founder of Buffalo Keeper. 

Seneca, who is Anishinaabe from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in southwestern Ontario, said the units are geared toward families — particularly those who are coming from Indigenous communities where finding housing may also be an issue. 

He said the family currently waiting for approval to move in from the organization's board of directors includes a mother and two teens who arrived in the city from a First Nation.

"If they can't find what they're looking for right away, they usually end up [in bad places] and then they just get lost," Seneca said of people who move to the city from Indigenous communities.

According to a 2023 City of Edmonton report, Indigenous people make up about five per cent of the city's population, but anywhere from 55 to 65 per cent of the homeless population. 

Buffalo Keeper aims to address that by offering cultural support and employment services along with housing to help people transition to stable lives in the city, Seneca said.

The new building, called Seneca One, will have three two-bedroom apartments and three one-bedroom apartments. Residents can stay for two years and receive employment services as well as cultural support from elders. 

The project was funded by the federal government through the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc.

Residents will also be visited by elders weekly and have access to ceremony and cultural activities, Seneca said. No smoking or drinking will be allowed on the premises. 

"We want to look at helping them to regain their way of life and what it's all about because many of these people, when you talk to them, that's what they want," he said. 

More housing options to come

Once the new residents have settled in, Seneca says they plan to develop more apartments for women coming out of prison. They hope to have it running by 2026. 

That's in line with Buffalo Keeper's origins. It began in 2018 with the goal of supporting Indigenous men coming out of prison by getting them in transitional housing called Myra House. 

One of Myra House's recent graduates, Rick Tremblay, has been hired to work as a caretaker at the new Seneca One building. 

Tremblay said while he was at Myra House he was encouraged to follow traditional practices which helped him. 

"Most of these people, they lost their ways, including myself," said Tremblay, who is Dene from Fort Chipewyan, Alta.

Having direct access to cultural support also helps people deal with loneliness and the negativity of isolation, he added. 

"When you're following traditional ways, you're able to speak your thoughts knowing that you have support from the elders. You're not keeping stuff in."