Affordable housing for people with disabilities slated for Hillhurst-Sunnyside

Construction willbegin this summer on an affordable housing development in northwestCalgary for formerlyhomeless people who have physical disabilities.

Aurora on the Park will beat located at83210thStreet N.W. in the community ofHillhurst-Sunnyside.

Right now, an old house sits on the property. It will be demolished to make way for the25-unit assisted living building.

Many welcome the addition of moreaffordable housing forpeople with disabilities in Calgary.

"Only about oneper cent of the housing in our city is both accessible and affordable. So there's just a massive gap. Some would suspect it's close to 90,000people," saysJeff Dyer,executive director of Accessible Housing.

Dyer says hegets a call every day from someone who is in dire straits because of a disability.

"They're either trapped in their own home, or they're facing homelessness, or they're recently injured, in a hospital and have no place to go," he added.

Jason Nicholson was ableto find accommodations at the4th Dimension Group Home in northwest Calgary.

Nicholson, who hasmultiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair,has just completed a PHd in mathematics.

"People, if given the right support, can do amazing things," he said.

The Calgary Homeless Foundation is behind the Aurora on the Park project.

The $4.5-million facilityis expected to start taking in tenantsin the summer of 2016.