Last year Patricia Pielow was living in a cabin with no indoor plumbing.
She just couldn't afford to live anywhere else, but now Pielow is living in a new 54 unit affordable living complex in Barrie. The complex was opened on Monday in conjunction with the County of Simcoe.
“I’m very lucky to be here,” she says.
Pielow is paying just $450 a month to live here.
The County of Simcoe is upgrading dozens of affordable housing units, as part of a big plan to open up hundreds more living spaces.
One in 10 adults in Simcoe County lives in poverty, a grim reality that is driving the need for more affordable housing. According to officials, 3,500 people are on a waiting list right now.
Stories like this are part of the drive behind the county and the City of Barrie's homelessness strategies, which aim to establish thousands more affordable units across the county and hundreds more in Barrie.
“We want to build good housing in good neighbourhoods that contributes to neighbourhoods,” says Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman. “People can live in and thrive in, and enjoy living in them.”
Since 2014, more than 400 new affordable housing units have been built in the county, but officials have set a target of 2,700 new units by 2024.
