The renovated community house in Rochester Heights will help local families.
After waiting 10 years for funding and space to establish a community house for the residents of Rochester Heights, it’s now $50,000 away from opening its doors, says Rosemary Jones, resource development manager at the Somerset West Community Health Centre.
Somerset Ward city Coun. Diane Holmes, chair of Ottawa Community Housing, says the centre has been working with the city and Ottawa Community housing for years to establish a community house.
Under the past leadership of the CEO of Ottawa Community Housing, Ron Larkin, the 14 community houses in Ottawa were evaluated and many did not meet modern codes due to technical problems, says Holmes.
Jo-Anne Poirier, current CEO of Ottawa Community Housing, says as a result $400,000 of the Ottawa Community Housing budget was added to the program early this year to bring the houses up to code. At the same time, the decision was made to add a 15th centre in the Rochester and Gladstone neighbourhood made up of 104 subsidized housing units.
Ottawa Community Housing provides the space, while the City of Ottawa funds the community house co-ordinator position.
“The benefits of the community houses definitely outweigh the costs,” says Holmes.
Newly appointed program co-ordinator Fauza Mohamed says there is a need for such a community space.
“Residents want to get to know each other and work together on issues,” she says.
Renovations to the Rochester house to convert it from residential to community use began in the early spring shortly after the Somerset West Community Health Centre secured the property from Ottawa Community Housing, says Jones.
Meanwhile, Mohamed has been focusing on building relationships with residents.
She says many have expressed interest in clubs and babysitting courses for children and youth Mohamed says there will be a youth drop-in once a week, and an all-girls drop-in run in co-operation with the Hopewell Eating Disorders Centre.
Jones says there has also been incredible demand for ESL programs, as many of the residents of Rochester Heights are new Canadians.
"The community is very culturally diverse," she says.
Donations are still needed as the centre nears its grand opening slated for the end of October or beginning of November, says Jones.