$50M Cindy Beedie Place affordable housing community opens for single mothers

A new long-term housing complex for single mothers and their children has just opened in Burnaby, signalling a new era of compassionate care and community for women fleeing violence in the region.

The project was born from a vision seven years ago by Cindy Beedie, Executive Director of the Beedie Foundation, who wanted to create housing where women could be safe, and build new, affordable lives for themselves and their children.

YWCA Cindy Beedie Place will house 56 mothers and their children, offering 41 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom units, including four accessible and seven adaptable apartments. The four-storey complex is pet friendly.

But the housing is just the beginning. The feather in the cap of the project is the on-site child care centre for up to 37 children—a game-changer for mother-led families living there—as residents get priority for placement.

There’s also onsite parkade for residents with bike storage, a common living space with open-plan kitchen suitable for community meals and an adjacent kitted-0ut playroom. There’s also a robust outdoor play area with green spaces with edible plants including raspberry canes and blueberries, as well as rosemary, with the intention that families can eat the harvests.

Twelve families have already moved in and the complex is set to be fully-occupied by January. There is a waitlist open for applications for tenancy, and a representative for YWCA told BCBusiness there are currently 1,300 women on it. Rent is subsidized, and residents will pay 30% of their income, meaning someone on social assistance will pay $695 monthly.  Many of the women moving in are coming from first or second stage transitional housing, and all of whom are fleeing violence.

The complex was officially opened on December 8th by Cindy Beedie, alongside the mayor of Burnaby, Mike Hurley, as well as Rohini Arora, Parliamentary Secretary for Child Care, Wade Chang, MP Burnaby Central, Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, and Erin Seeley, CEO, YWCA Metro Vancouver.

Beedie thanked the city of Burnaby for saying yes to the project, saying she was turned down in many other municipalities in her campaign to build housing for single moms.

“Today is emotional for me probably because it’s the culmination of all that effort but it’s mostly due to the women and children who have already moved in and will be moving in. Women who have had the courage to leave unsafe situations with the aim to build better lives for themselves and their children,” Beedie said.

The land for the project, east of Forest Lawn in the Douglas-Gilpin neighbourhood, was provided by the City of Burnaby under a 99-year lease.

Mike Hurley, Burnaby’s mayor, says leveraging nominal land leases for non-market housing has been hugely successful for the city, adding that three more are currently under construction.

YWCA Metro Vancouver is the operating partner and will also provide wraparound support for mothers in the facility, including bursary opportunities and employment programs.

“This remarkable housing community could not have happened without Cindy’s leadership,” said Erin Seeley, CEO, YWCA Metro Vancouver. “This is a testament to philanthropy and partnership.” This is the YWCA’s 17th housing community in the province, supporting over 800 women and families in B.C.

Eighty percent of the $50 million project is funded by the provincial government as part of a $19 billion provincial housing investment.  The child care portion of the complex received more than $4 million from the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund, which is jointly supported by the province and federal funding under the Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.