Construction has begun on new housing for women and children in Burnaby, which will include 56 affordable long-term homes and 37 new child care spaces.

Cindy Beedie Place will be a four-storey building with 41 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom homes, each with a bathroom, kitchen and dining area. Eleven of the homes will be adaptable and accessible. The building will have heat pumps to ensure adequate heating and cooling. It will include an amenity room, a kitchen for communal gatherings, a residential courtyard and a children’s play area.

In addition, Cindy Beedie Place will have an attached early learning and child care facility, which has been partially funded through the Beedie Foundation and an anonymous donor. The child care facility will receive additional funds through ChildCareBC’s New Spaces Fund. The YWCA, which will operate the child care facility, will apply for the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative to be able to offer affordable child care rates. Families may be eligible to receive additional financial support through the Province’s Affordable Child Care Benefit.

The project is a partnership between the province, through BC Housing, the Beedie Foundation, the City of Burnaby and YWCA Metro Vancouver. The province is providing approximately $40.2 million through the Building BC: Women’s Transition Housing Fund for the project.

“We are bringing together a vision I have had for many years of a place where vulnerable women and their children can live in safety in a home offering the deepest levels of affordability,” said Cindy Beedie, executive director, Beedie Foundation. “Together we hope to give mothers in need the chance to change the trajectory of their lives by empowering them with affordable housing and child care. We also hope this project inspires leaders in other cities to build similar projects in their own communities. My sincere gratitude to our partners and donors whose tremendous support helped make this project a reality.”