MAXXINE WRIGHT CENTRE

Atira Women’s Resource Society’s Maxxine Wright Centre, at 13729 – 92 Avenue in Surrey, will provide 24 self-contained units of transitional housing and 12 short-term stay units for women who are pregnant and homeless or at risk of homelessness and their children. The facility will also include new community health centre and a 59-space child-care facility to support residents and current clients of the Maxxine Wright Centre as well as families in the community at large.

The development will consist of two buildings. The program building will include the child-care centre on the main floor, a clinic on the second floor, and 12 short-term stay units with a community kitchen on the third floor. The second building is entirely residential, providing 24 units, including four one-bedroom, eight two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units. The buildings will be designed to LEED Gold standard.

Both short-term stay units and transitional housing clients will have access to resources and support services, including assistance with housing and employment; developing financial and other life skills; and accessing physical and mental health services. Support staff will work closely with individual participants to develop personal action plans designed to help support them to make the decisions that will move them to where they want to be in their lives.

The 59 day-care spaces will be created through an agreement between the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and BC Housing.

Partners and Funding

The total capital cost of this development is approximately $17.9 million:

§ The Government of Canada will be investing over $1.2 million of federal homelessness funding through Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC);

§ The Province will provide capital funding in the form of a grant of $500,000 and $13.2 million; and a $1.5-million grant, through Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), towards the capital cost of the 59-space childcare facility;

§ The City of Surrey, provided $1 million, through the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Fund; and

§ Atira Women’s Resource Society provided the land, valued at $272,651.

Operational and program funding will be provided by the Province and Atira Women’s Resource Society. MCFD will provide operational funding to the child care centre and child care subsidies will also be available to eligible families.

Atira Women’s Resource Society
Incorporated in 1983, Atira Women’s Resource Society is a not-for-profit organization committed to the work of ending violence against women. The society provides direct service as well as increased awareness and education around the scope and impact on our communities of men’s violence against women and children. The Atira Women’s Resource Society manages 10 different housing developments, and a number of related support programs including counselling, legal advocacy, a self-employment initiative, a community kitchen and a variety of projects and workshops.

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Media contact:	Patricia Lusic BC Housing 604 314-1458	Norman Van Eeden Petersman Mayor's Office - City of Surrey 604 591-4168

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