Housing units planned for city's homeless

Calgary's homeless will soon have access to hundreds of permanent homes, said the province Friday.

Some of the 297 housing units promised by the province are already built and just need to be re-purposed, said a provincial news release. Those homes will be available shortly, though no dates have been specified.

Other units will be built from the ground up.

"The cure for homelessness is housing," said Tim Richter, president of the Calgary Homeless Foundation. "Today's announcement is the beginning of the end of homelessness for hundreds of Calgarians and long-term savings for Alberta taxpayers."

The provincial investment stems from the 2009/2010 housing for the homeless grant program.

Alberta has also earmarked $42 million to address the underlying causes of homelessness and support for people working their way towards independence.

In March 2009, Alberta became the first Canadian province to endorse a provincial 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Below is a list of new housing projectsplanned by the province: