SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition has land, but no money for the long-awaited women's transitional home.

Dayle Handy, homelessness coordinator, left, and Byrne Richards, right, chair of the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition, show off the land on 54 Street where the long-awaited women's transitional home will be built. - Nicole Veerman/NNSL photo

Byrne Richards, chair of the coalition, said plans are in place to move ahead with the development of four lots on 54 Street across from Aurora College, but now it's a matter of finding the funding to make it happen.

He said it's too early to tell how much it's going to cost, but "we know it's more money than we have."

The coalition bought the land for $935,000 with funding from the federal government through their Homelessness Partnering Strategy.

Homelessness coordinator, Dayle Handy, said if she were to ballpark the cost of building the home, it would be about $6 million.

The plan is to build a structure equivalent in size to the Bailey House, which has 32 rooms, said Handy.

"We're going to try and get as much bang for our buck," she said. "As many units as we can."

The Bailey House was opened in 2007 after the coalition recognized the need for a transitional home for homeless men in the city.

Handy said the same need exists for women and children.

"There's a lot of women that are almost residing in emergency shelters because there isn't that next stage in the housing continuum," she said.

The goal is to move women out of emergency shelters so they're not using them for long-term living, she said. The transitional home will provide a home for women and children from across the territories, said Handy.

"There's a lot of women that migrate towards Yellowknife ... from other communities outside of Yellowknife, so we serve literally the whole of the Northwest Territories," she said. "Now finally we're going to go forward and design a building that meets our needs, which will increase not only transitional units in Yellowknife, but also increase the number of living units in Yellowknife, when housing is at such low numbers."

The YHC has run into a few roadblocks while looking for a suitable site for the transitional home over the last year and a half.

In June 2009, the coalition planned to renovate the old Kitikmeot Boarding Centre building on 52 Street, but the necessary structural changes made the space ineligible for funding from the NWT Housing Corporation.

With the location now in place, the coalition will now create a feasibility plan, determine the need, design the structure and seek partnership from the government and private corporations.

"I think there is amazing compassion from the people of Yellowknife and I believe that the community will pull together and support us to meet our goals," Handy said.

The coalition isn't sure when the home will be complete. Handy said realistically it will be up and running sometime in 2012, but the "dream" is it will be ready by Christmas of 2011.

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