KITCHENER, ON, Sept. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – After a federal government investment, combined with community donations, The Working Centre will create a dynamic, beautiful and inviting new community space. MP Bardish Chagger and Joe and Stephanie Mancini, directors of The Working Centre, announced that the project will construct a community centre and new home for St. John’s Kitchen.
Operated by The Working Centre, the Victoria Campus Community Centre will be an inclusive, sustainable and welcoming space for drop-in visits, gatherings, shared meals, and activities as well as access to critical resources for those in need. Constructed with a mass-timber structure to minimize the building’s carbon footprint, the facility will also feature a rooftop solar panel array that will support net-zero carbon emissions. An open-concept community kitchen, courtyard, and public bathrooms will foster a dynamic, creative and welcoming atmosphere, while helping to deliver essential services and supports.
The Working Centre was established in Kitchener in 1982 to respond to poverty and unemployment in the community. The aim of the organization is to provide access to tools to support greater community opportunity for those most vulnerable. The Victoria Campus Community Centre will provide an important space for an estimated 2,000 individuals experiencing homeless and precarious housing conditions in the Waterloo Region.
Quotes
“The Victoria Campus Community Centre will be a welcoming space, providing some of the most vulnerable residents in Kitchener access to critical services, resources and community activities, while using innovative, clean solutions that will contribute to a greener community. The federal government continues to invest in underserved communities, while also building a greener and more inclusive tomorrow for future generations.”
The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
“The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program is helping to rebuild St. John’s Kitchen, recreating a 38-year history of involving the community in the serving of a free daily meal. The contribution ensures that through the use of heat pumps, electric appliances, insulation, solar panels and energy efficiency the new building will achieve substantial reductions in carbon emissions. This beautiful, new drop-in space will extend the work of St. John’s Kitchen through the provision of meals, laundry, washrooms, welcome, connection to resources and healthcare supports for the most vulnerable. This new Community Centre will be fully accessible and will create a dynamic space that reduces isolation, increases access to services and supports, and serves as a neighbourhood gathering space.”
Joe Mancini, Director, The Working Centre
Quick facts
The Government of Canada is investing $2,244,000 in this project through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program (GICB) and The Working Centre is contributing $6,101,481 through fundraising.The GICB program was created in support of Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. It is supporting the Plan’s first pillar by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiency, and helping develop higher resilience to climate change.The program launched in 2021 with an initial investment of $1.5 billion over five years towards green and accessible retrofits, repairs or upgrades.Budget 2024 announced an additional $500 million to support more projects through GICB until 2029.At least 10% of funding is allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.The GICB program launched its third intake of applications on August 1, 2024, for small and medium retrofit projects (with eligible costs ranging from $100,000 to $2,999,999); and on September 4, 2024, for large retrofit projects, (ranging from $3 million to $25 million in eligible costs), to upgrade existing community buildings or to create new, energy-efficient buildings.Both intake streams will close on October 16, 2024 at 15:00 Eastern Time.For more information, please visit the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada website at: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada – Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program.
Associated Links
Green and Inclusive Community Buildings
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/gicb-bcvi/index-eng.html
Strengthened Climate Plan
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview.html
Housing and Infrastructure Project Map
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/gmap-gcarte/index-eng.html
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Web: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
SOURCE Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
