The doors to Lucy’s Place opened in April of this year, but the organizations involved in its creation held an official grand opening today to showcase the Essa Road living space.
An 18-unit supportive housing complex, located at the former Barr’s Motel site at 170 Essa Rd., is designed to help with homelessness and the lack of affordable housing.
The location was made possible because of the co-operation of different levels of government, local businesses, organizations and individuals.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman told BarrieToday he loves that the city was able to help, but passes credit on to those he feels deserve it more, such as Redwood Park Communities and the David Busby Centre.
“I really have to credit the county who broke the logjam and started the ball rolling on the government funding side,” said Lehman. “But this is all about what Redwood and Busby do for our community. The vision from their leaders, right down to the line to the huge network of volunteers who were working in the dead of winter to get this done.
"The whole thing is such a wonderful way to describe our city as a place where community cares," he added.
Both Redwood Park Communities and the David Busby Centre work to end homelessness and addiction for those dealing with the issues. The two organizations provide 24/7 on-site support to the residents if needed.
Redwood Park executive director Tim Kent told BarrieToday he's very proud of Lucy’s Place and all it is able to do, but he would like to see more like it and believes it's possible.
“We really went into this project as a pilot in order to see what we could do down the road,” said Kent. “We’re hoping that this can be solution to some of the smaller communities around Barrie where we have older drive-up motels that aren’t being used.
“If we can convert those older motels into affordable living spaces, we could keep folks in their own communities instead of having them be forced to head to bigger cities to seek shelter and services," he added.
The former motel and an adjacent home were purchased by the County of Simcoe in 2017, with funding support from the provincial government. It soon became a collaborative partnership between the county, Redwood Park Communities, the David
Busby Centre and the City of Barrie.
In 2018, the county entered into a 25-year ground lease agreement with Redwood Park Communities, a non-profit organization with a mandate to build safe, affordable, and hopeful housing in a supportive environment.
Redwood Park Communities oversaw the conversion, and the David Busby Centre is providing case management and 24/7 supports to the residents of the project through its Housing First philosophy and program.
Lucy’s Place has 12 self-contained bachelor units, a common area, a communal kitchen and office/programming space. The adjacent home provides six additional units where residents have their own bedroom, and share kitchen and bathroom facilities.
