Chatham-Kent residents will soon have a chance to learn about new community housing options and how to apply for support.
CK Housing Services will livestream two events next week on the municipality's Facebook page and YouTube channel regarding access to safe, sustainable, and affordable housing. This includes Rent Geared to Income (RGI) housing, affordable housing, Portable Housing Benefits (PHBs) and programming to assist homeowners.
At a recent CK Council meeting the Director of Municipal Housing Development Ray Harper said that Chatham-Kent's Centralized Waiting List (CWL) of households in need of affordable housing increased from 1,103 to 1,153 households in May 2024.
"If this degree of growth continues, Chatham-Kent could be at an unprecedented 1,300 households on the CWL by the end of 2024," Harper said. "With a population of approximately 45,171 people, Chatham is the largest urban centre located in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. At present, 60 per cent of the 1,153 current households on the waiting list are looking for units in Chatham."
At the time, he listed that 18 per cent or 125 are households in need of three and four-bedroom units, 17 per cent or 116 are adults needing two-bedroom units, 21 per cent or 149 are seniors needing one-bedroom units, and 44 per cent or 304 are adults needing one-bedroom units.
The two sessions will be hosted by Phillip Mock from Vision Us and Beth Earley and will take place on July 30 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and August 1 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
-with files from Paul Pedro