Two new triplexes on Shxw’owhamel First Nation will allow community members to return home. The energy efficiency and affordability of the homes will allow them to stay.
Housing officer Michelle Victor said the two newly finished triplexes on St. Elmo Road will be rented at affordable rates to elders and single-parent families, all of whom move in June 1.
A total of 18 homes have been built on Shxw’owhamel land since 2015, projects local leader Shane James said are crucial to bring community members home, some of whom are living difficult lives in neighbouring towns like Hope.
The two triplexes stand side by side – one beige, the other grey – with hanging baskets bursting with colourful flowers by the doors and the interior of each home giving off the smell of fresh paint.
The grey triplex is built for Shxw’owhamel elders, with bathrooms adapted to their needs. The beige triplex will house three single-parent families.
Shxw’owhamel Ventures broke ground on the project July 2017 and despite facing the elements – snow, extreme wind and rain – finished the project by May 31. The First Nation received $1.3 million for the project, through the federal government’s 2016 budget.
Affordability is key for Victor, who said not only will the 900-square-foot units rent at rates affordable to people receiving social assistance, the energy-efficient features will hopefully result in a non-existent hydro bill.
“Solar power will provide enough energy to the home that they won’t actually need to use hydro. They’re saying that there’s a chance that we might actually get money back, later on, depending on how the tenants live in the house,” Victor said.
The solar panels on one side of the sloping triplex roofs are complemented by an HRV/ERV heating and cooling system, energy-efficient windows and spray foam insulation.
Alfred James, CEO of Shxw’owhamel Ventures who built the project, said building energy-efficient homes wasn’t more difficult than other housing builds. The key to making it work is having everything on schedule and all the right pieces lined up to ensure the build goes smoothly.
The triplexes are the latest in a concerted effort by the First Nation to enable their members to move back onto Shxw’owhamel land. When Victor started as housing officer in 2015, there were 24 homes; 18 more have since been built.
“Everybody wants to come home. There are a lot of Shxw’owhamel members living in Mission, Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope and they all just want to come home, come home to their community, back to their culture,” Victor said. “The cost of living in town is pretty high so we’re doing our best to build them nice homes that they’ll be proud of and they’ll appreciate and take care of, and that, most of all, they can afford to stay.”
Housing, said Shane James, is the key to addressing poverty, trauma and addictions faced by both First Nations and non-First Nations people in Hope and other Fraser Valley towns.
James is a “si:yama” – family leader at Shxw’owhamel, a First Nation which opted out of the chief and council governance structure. Instead, each family in the community chooses a leader, a si:yam, to represent them at council meetings, where decisions are made with input from each si:yam, and in their work outside the First Nation.
“Building sustainable units like this, bringing back members of Shxw’owhamel back to the community is what this whole project is focused around,” he said.
“Number one is having a place to stay that’s affordable, that’s comfortable, that’s a place you can call home. Then working with…council to get them the help that they need, and make sure they actually want to take that path and get help.”
For Victor, the satisfaction behind her work is seeing how children feel about their new homes.
“The look on the kids’ faces when they see that this is their home and it’s their own room and they don’t have to worry, it’s theirs,” she said. “There are a lot of headaches but that makes it all worthwhile.”
