Wrigley’s Housing Society secures six new homes

This fall, Wrigley will have six new move-in ready homes, according to Pehdzéh Kı̨ First Nation’s housing manager Kyle Clille.

The federal government announced $3.9 million in funding for the community to buy six new three-bedroom units in January. Funds will also be used to repair existing homes in the community..

“There is certainly a housing need in the community,” D’Arcy Moses, the First Nation’s band manager, said. “This will benefit people who are living in insufficient housing.”

The new homes, which are owned by Wrigley’s housing society, are waiting in the community works yard while lots are prepared. Clille anticipates this work will be complete by the fall, allowing residents to move in shortly after.

The homes will be rented out at an “affordable price point to members in need of housing,” according to Moses. He added the initiative aims to support band members whose homes are in disrepair as well as single parents and families with young children.

Sixty-seven percent of homes face issues

Located in the northern part of the Dehcho, around 130 residents call the small community of Wrigley home. Like many NWT communities, it is facing housing challenges.

An NWT report on anti-poverty indicates 67 percent of homes in Wrigley had “adequacy problems” in 2019.

Clille said he has visited units with mould buildup, no running water, no doors, overcrowding, and broken furnaces, windows and floors, among other issues.

Two public housing units in Wrigley were recently condemned, he added, and the community’s need for adequate housing is greater than ever.

Private homes in Wrigley are often ineligible for government programs geared toward home renovations, Clille said, and when applications are approved, it takes a long time to get them done.

“Our main concern was for our Elders because the cold weather was really hitting,” Clille said, adding that some Elders have been waiting three years for home repairs after being approved by an NWT Housing program.

Clille said public housing tenants also face high rent and long waits for repairs to address essential needs like heating and water.

He said NWT Housing is considering allocating funding for the community to take on minor repairs.

Housing society launched

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada funded the First Nation’s housing plan last year, Clille said.

“We did do a lot of innovations in our community for housing,” he said. “We combined funding together and then we did repairs in the community for the Elders’ homes.”

The community recently launched an independent housing society in order to meet the housing demand and deliver services that reflect the needs of residents in Wrigley.

“The reason why we started looking at a housing society is because of all these issues we’ve been having with housing — NWT Housing and private housing,” Clille said.

“Our goal is to create our own housing society and to take on our own units, to house our own people, so that we can turn it around.”

Moses said the non-profit society is a separate financial agent from the First Nation.

“It’s a great initiative. It was a long time in the works,” he said.

The initiative will provide members with a much-needed alternative to public housing and homeownership programs, according to Clille, who says he hopes the housing society will alleviate residents’ stress over rent, evictions and home repairs.

The housing society will be responsible for rent collection, housing maintenance, applicant screening, and applications for future funding, among other duties. A board of eight members will manage housing delivered through the initiative.

Members who wish to live in housing delivered by the society will have to apply, Moses said.

‘Just the beginning’

Alongside providing new housing, the society also aims to provide training and jobs.

With a focus on youth, residents will have the opportunity to gain skills as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians, who will then be utilized by the housing society for unit maintenance and repair.

Over the next five years, Clille said they plan to train five people every year, which will result in 25 new trained professionals in Wrigley.

Clille said the society also plans to build three more single bedroom units in the community every year over the next five years, adding 15 additional homes in Wrigley.

The housing initiative will have a material, positive impact on residents, Moses said, adding that self-administered housing will “empower” the First Nation.

“They’ll get to manage and govern their own housing within the community,” he said.

“One day we’ll be self-governed,” Clille added. “We’re already working towards self-government on our housing, taking on our own housing program.

“It feels great to bring it six new units to our community, to our membership. But, this is just the beginning.”