Uniti rental residence builds belonging in Brampton

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Multi-partner collaboration delivers affordable supported independent living

When Mary Centre board president Kevin Finnerty visited Uniti rental residence in Brampton earlier this summer — to mark the first-year anniversary of the building’s launch and touch base with the four individuals with autism and developmental disabilities who are now living there independently, supported by the centre — he walked away confident the first-of-its-kind partnership to provide affordable, inclusive housing is working.

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“They’re so happy to be in an environment where they’re living on their own,” said Finnerty, remarking that one person is taking transit to go to school while others are working towards employment. “They have a sense of greater independence and it makes a big difference in their lives,” he added.

The initiative is an example of the good that can happen when ‘stars’ align, said Adam Molson, vice-president at The Daniels Corporation (Daniels), which designed the building under Daniels’ Accessibility Designed Program (ADP) in partnership with Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust.

Since introducing ADP in 2017, Daniels has aimed to include a percentage of accessible units in all new high- and low-rise communities it builds, offering features like roll-in showers, power operated entry doors and wider doors throughout.

What sets Uniti apart is that for the first time, those accessible units were also made affordable by tapping into Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFI).

Under the RCFI program, a minimum of 20 per cent of units must be offered at affordable rents, at or below 30 per cent of the median household income in the surrounding market, and Daniels decided to include its accessible units within that 20 per cent.

Rents are further reduced through Peel Region’s Community Agency Subsidy Program which allowed support services providers Mary Centre and Kerry’s Place to secure a five-year lease at Uniti to provide housing for adults with developmental disabilities.

“When we started (with ADP) it was about ‘How do we build the product?’ because the product wasn’t really being built,” said Molson. “We cracked that … but all too many times there’s this intersection of needs and financial needs. We thought, ‘What can do on that one?’”

The lease agreements with Mary Centre and Kerry’s Place are for four two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units. In addition to having their own living space, the residents supported there have access to all building amenities, including a multi-purpose room, party room, theatre room and gym, as well as to programs curated by the Daniels Gateway property management team who “go out of their way to make sure the residents are integrated and brought into community events,” said Molson.

Mary Centre is currently renting two two-bedrooms and one one-bedroom at Uniti, providing supported independent living for four adults with developmental disabilities identified as suitable candidates by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. The fifth room is used by centre support staff who are there 16 hours as day as a resource.

“It takes multiple partners willing to work together with the singular goal that the people we support have the housing and support they need,” said Finnerty, noting the agency would love to replicate the housing model in the future. “This partnership has been absolutely wonderful,” he said.