Listen When your Mother is Talking: Seniors in James Bay Support Affordable Assisted Housing at 408 Parry Street by Joan McHardy, Chair, SHAPE and Chair Birdcages Housing Society Dorothie Lindquist is one senior in James Bay who is speaking out, loudly and clearly, in favour of this development. Dorothie, who just turned 85 years old, mother of four, said today: “Finally, after so many years of struggling, we will watch the bulldozers turn the sod on affordable assisted living for seniors in James Bay". Dorothie added that she is a founding member of SHAPE (Supportive Housing Action Project for the Elderly). SHAPE has been working for over eleven years to get housing for seniors who cannot afford adequate housing in James Bay. The founding members of SHAPE include Joan McHardy, Chair and Bill Burrill from Birdcages Housing Society, Kim Dixon and Howie Leach from James Bay New Horizons, Dorothie Lindquist and Alwyn Wason from James Bay United Church, Maeve Lydon from James Bay Neighborhood Improvement Association, Jan Robertson from Beckley Farm Lodge and many others. Bea Holland and Gretchen Brewin saw the need and encouraged the group's efforts along the way. Parry Place will be the location of 21 self-contained units of supportive housing for seniors. There will also be a suite for a live-in manager. There will be a communal dining room with meals provided from Beckley Farm Lodge. Housekeeping services and linen services will also be provided from Beckley Farm Lodge. Vancouver Island Healthy Authority and BC Housing have agreed to fund the construction of Parry Place at a cost of $5.2 million dollars. SHAPE started this project by dreaming of a James Bay where seniors were valued, and safely and adequately housed. We passed out cookies on Menzies Street to raise awareness of the critical need. We spent years involving the community, municipal officials, health authority representatives and Henry Kamphof of Capital Region Housing Corporation to make this dream come true. On Tuesday, we are going to sell rocks for $10 each so that the residents will have all the things they need, including room for their scooters and bike storage. After all these years of struggling to build supportive affordable housing for seniors in James Bay, we are about to see that early vision become a reality. This is the first affordable seniors’ housing that is being built in James Bay. Come and celebrate with us! The Commencement of Construction of Parry Place is a real victory for perseverance, and for the community we want, where seniors are treated with respect and don’t need to worry about the roof leaking or how to pay the rent. This building is the first of many urgently needed affordable assisted living housing units for seniors in our neighbourhood. And buy a very nice rock indeed. Ten dollars is cheap for a dream coming true.