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Seventh-day Adventists and City of Toronto Partner to Build Affordable Housing
July 11, 2000
Toronto, Canada .... [ANN/NAD Staff]
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church and the City of Toronto announced today plans to develop a proposal to create approximately 30 to 60 rental townhouses that will be affordable to lower income families through the city's Let's Build! Program.
"We'd like to find a way to say thank you to Toronto," said Kermit Netteburg, church spokesperson. The Adventist Church just completed its 57th World Session on Sunday. It was the largest convention in Toronto history. "People here were incredibly kind and helpful," he added.
The City of Toronto launched the Let's Build! program last October to address the severe housing shortage and to spur new residential construction in the city. The program focuses on long-term affordable housing solutions.
"This partnership is exactly what the city hoped for when they established the Lets Build! program," said Councillor Brad Duguid, chair of Toronto City Council's Community Services Committee. "I'm encouraged by today's announcement and hope other organizations will follow in the footsteps of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Everyone deserves a home."
"Affordable housing is essential for all communities," said Derrick Nichols, president of the Ontario Seventh-day Adventist Conference. "I'm pleased that we can participate in such an important initiative for Toronto."
Let's Build! provides non-profit community groups and private developers incentives such as financial assistance and potential development sites to build affordable housing. The initiative announced today is one of several proposals now being reviewed by city staff.
Several Seventh-day Adventist agencies and entities have expressed interest in being involved in the project. Maranatha Volunteers International is an Adventist-related entity that has built thousands of churches, schools, hospitals, clinics, and housing projects around the world.
Maranatha's volunteer construction people are primarily skilled craftsmen who take vacation time, from a few days each year to several months, to build projects. Many are retired builders, electricians and carpenters. These volunteers and others from the Greater Toronto Area will work on the project with Toronto area construction contractors.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency/Ontario will provide project leadership. The humanitarian agency is part of a worldwide network that oversees more than $100 million in development projects.
The potential housing complex would include a community center that would help residents with seminars that teach lifestyle skills. "Adventists want to improve the quality of life for people," said Netteburg.
"There are still a lot of details to nail down, such as site location," said Mark Guslits, special advisor, housing development services for the City of Toronto. "But we wanted to make this announcement while the good feeling that the delegates who attended the Adventists' business session left behind is still with us." |
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