BVRH News

2016 BVRH May Bulletin

BVRH Monthly Bulletin                                     May 2016 

Canadian Housing & Renewal Association: Congress 2016

CAO attended the Congress, which was held during mid-April in Montreal. BVRH is a member of CHRA, which is the national voice for the full range of affordable housing and homelessness issues and solutions, providing advocacy, research, information, and an annual conference. This conference, or Congress, provides numerous high-quality education sessions, networking opportunities, government presentations, a large trade show, and mobile tours of diverse housing projects.

 

2016 Lodges Capital Budget Approved

The board has approved the following major projects within the 2016 capital budget, funded by our Funds and Reserves.

1.      Replacement of the Lodge Coach for resident activities. We will be replacing our aging handi-bus!

2.      We will finish Phase 1 of our This is Home lodge redevelopment in Canmore.

3.      We will furnish and equip the new building.

4.      We will be planning for Phase 2 of our This is Home project, while also developing necessary operating agreements and models.

 

More money for maintenance in our social housing program!

Our request to use our 2015 operating surplus for back logged maintenance projects in 2016 has been approved by the Government of Alberta. This means we have extra money for maintenance this year. These funds will be used for much needed work at Mount Edith House, Bow River Homes, and our Community Housing including both Woodlands and Cougar Creek Condos. Projects will be chosen from our prioritized list of maintenance projects, rated by factors such as safety concerns and ability to extend the life of the buildings.

 

2016 Municipal Requisitions

BVRH is empowered to requisition the ratepayers of the region to contribute to our supportive living programming through deficit and capital funding. In 2016 we have managed to reduce our need for such funding by 5.3% compared to 2015. This means we will be collecting $67,000 less through our contributing municipalities this year. This is possible due to responsible management of our programming, along with the introduction of the Rent Geared to Income revenue model in our lodges, which is reducing our dependence on external sources of income.

 

Project occupancy rates

Bow River Lodge                  88% occupancy

Cascade House                      100% occupancy

Bow River Homes                  100% occupancy

Mount Edith House              97% occupancy

Community Housing             98% occupancy

Rent Supplement                   100% subscription

  

Temporary Flood relief housing

BVRH continues to assist the Government of Alberta with their efforts to house local victims of the southern flooding. This program is winding down; just two tenants remain in place.

 

Bow River Lodge Redevelopment “This is Home

Schedule: 

Phase 1: The building is almost completely closed in. Siding is nearing completion, while interior work continues to ramp up, including early dry walling. The schedule still indicates substantial completion in mid-October 2016, with full commissioning in late December 2016. Current progress stands at approximately 55%.

Phase 2: Substantial planning will begin soon, now that we have initial agreements with the provincial government and agencies. However, construction on this phase cannot start until Phase 1 is complete and fully operational. At this point in time we anticipate completion of Phase 2 in late 2018.

 

Design:

Phase 1: The design includes 63 new residential lodge units, replacing 43 aging units and giving us 20 more, maximizing the available space in anticipation of the looming needs of our aging population in the region. This design means that all of our seniors will be housed in safe, new and fully functional spaces instead of some that are retro-fitted, ensuring more effective and efficient accommodation along with much improved ability to increase care services in the future.   Aside from the better facility afforded by this design it is important to also highlight the creation of a valuable and substantial piece of property to be used to meet regional needs in the future. The area currently taken up by the old parts of the original lodge will be used to bring higher levels of supportive living to the region for true aging in place in Phase 2.

Phase 2: This facility will be purposely designed to meet the needs of designated supportive living level 4 and dementia operations, including enhanced safety and care-provision considerations. AHS has provided design guidelines that the facility must consider so as to secure a DSL agreement, which is the goal to meet the current and future needs of the people of the region. Next steps include: Project Coordination, and negotiation of a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with AHS.

 

Economics:

Phase 1: Alberta Seniors-Housing representatives remain supportive of the 80/20 sharing model, whereby the Province will pay 100% of the project costs and BVRH will pay our 20% over time. The current total project cost estimate is $14.2 million.

Phase 2: The current capital cost estimate is $18.5 million. We have received a commitment of a $6 million ASLI grant from the Government of Alberta.  We have also received word that Alberta Housing would like to fund this project in under the model being used to fund Phase 1. We plan to fund our share through a combination of fundraising and financing.

It is expected that this development would improve our operating model to the point that we are able to achieve economies of scale and eliminate the need to requisition for operating costs at Bow River Lodge in the future. However, we may have to take on financing related to the provision of staff accommodation.

 

Communications:

Phase 1: Our communications strategy continues; site signage will be in place in late 2016.

Phase 2: Planning for the communications plan for phase 2 is being incorporated into our overall communications strategy.

 

About Bow Valley Regional Housing

Bow Valley Regional Housing (BVRH) is a Housing Management Body (HMB) for the Government of Alberta. The Provincial Government created HMBs to serve as operators and administrators of provincially-owned social housing facilities. The Province owns a large portfolio of these facilities through the Alberta Social Housing Corporation (ASHC), serving many needy and vulnerable Albertans. Each HMB is self-governing under the Alberta Housing Act, managing the ASHC assets in a particular region. Each region is comprised of multiple municipalities, improvement districts, etc. HMBs may operate other kinds of housing and may own buildings that house accommodation programs.

Every municipality in Alberta is a contributing member of their regional HMB. They are required to have at least one appointee on the governing board, which is responsible for acting in the best interests of the HMB. The board must consider the needs of each contributing municipality in its governance of the HMB.

HMB operations are funded through various means. Tenants pay rent and/or lodge fees, however since these are set at affordable rates the revenues cannot cover the costs of operations. Seniors Lodge deficits are funded through municipal ratepayer requisitions and provincial grants. Social Housing deficits (including independent seniors housing and community housing) are funded by Alberta Seniors and Housing.

As the HMB for the Bow Valley region we are responsible for social housing, as well as affordable supportive living accommodation for seniors throughout Kananaskis Country, the Bow Corridor, the MD of Bighorn and all of Banff National Park, an area covering about 13,500 square kilometres. This region has two towns and seven hamlets containing about 25,000 people. Our five contributing municipalities are: Kananaskis ID, MD of Bighorn, Town of Canmore, Town of Banff and Banff National Park ID9. The people of the region are able to access all of the programs we offer, subject to eligibility requirements.

 

The BVRH Mission Statement

Bow Valley Regional Housing commits to provide accommodation services for the Bow Valley region seniors and residents of modest means who struggle to secure and maintain appropriate housing. 

We manage:

  • seniors’ lodges in Canmore and Banff that currently house up to 85 residents
  • an expansion project underway at our lodge in Canmore will increase capacity and greatly improve the standard of living for the residents of the lodge
  • a second phase of the expansion project that will introduce designated supportive living to the region by way of approximately 60 beds that will provide appropriate accommodations to our vulnerable seniors while alleviating pressures in local hospitals
  • seniors’ independent housing buildings in Canmore and Banff that include 62 one-bedroom apartments
  • 58 family housing residences in Canmore
  • Interim relief housing for two households displaced by the June 2013 flooding
  • the Rent Supplement Program in the region that currently provides financial assistance to approximately 40 Bow Valley households

All told we currently house, or help to house approximately 425 residents of the Bow Valley in 8 permanent and 1 interim housing projects encompassing 36 separate buildings between 3 separate communities.

We are a self-governing body. We partner with two provincial ministries and five municipal governments, along with numerous local and community agencies to provide and promote safe and appropriate housing to our region.

  

The BVRH Vision Statement

Bow Valley Regional Housing aspires to collaborate with relevant agencies to ensure that suitable programming that will mitigate the housing needs of our client base is available. We will:

·         Make decisions and recommendations using relevant and valid data regarding community trends and housing needs.

·         Obtain funding to develop infrastructure that meets identified needs for social and senior’s affordable housing programs.

·         Embrace operating principles that incorporate innovation, service excellence and best practices.

·         Attract and retain highly qualified and caring staff.

BVRH has approximately 36 employees based in either Bow River Lodge (Canmore) or Cascade House (Banff). Our Administration and Maintenance Teams are based in Canmore but serve all of our operations. We have Housekeeping and Food Service Teams in both of our lodges.

 

BVRH Values

Service: client-focus; empathy; caring; commitment to quality and; a guiding philosophy of serving our clients in their homes.

Integrity and Accountability: high ethics; professionalism; transparency; accountability and; inclusiveness.

Efficacy: sustainability; innovation; versatility; collaboration; communication; vision and; resourcefulness.

 

Information is available on our website at www.bvrh.ca