Photo by Blake Priddle
Antigonish residents have a place to call home.
The Antigonish Affordable Housing Society held an official opening ceremony for their Appleseed Court Housing Unit yesterday afternoon. The unit has an outdoor area for gardening and a community room to provide a place for people to gather and hold events. Some of the rooms are accessible for people with disabilities and the buildings are close to schools and other amenities.
AAHS received a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in the amount of $381.050 and this will allow Appleseed Court to become net zero and help them to reach their goal of creating environmentally sustainable homes using solar energy.
It was unveiled at the ceremony that the community room would be named after Sister Marion Sheridan an advocate for affordable housing. AAHS chair Rachel Macfarlane says Sheridan was a board member for over 25 years and was instrumental in the creation of the community room. Sheridan accepted the honour at the ceremony, saying it was a privilege.
Justin Liengme, who sadly passed away earlier this year was also recognized during the ceremony for his contribution to the construction of these units and AAHS will be renaming one of their endowment funds after him. This will provide financial needs for the tenants. An Appletree was planted on the grounds of the housing unit in his honour to provide shade and apples for the residents.
Macfarlane was very happy with the number of people that showed up at the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the housing units and they look forward to developing new projects in the future. This housing project was made possible from financial donations from the federal government and the county of Antigonish.
You can stay up to date with housing project plans in Antigonish by following the Antigonish Affordable Housing Facebook page.
