Construction began last week on the Suswin housing project on Cassells St.
The word Suswin in Ojibway means “nest.”
The $7 million project have a target completion date of next summer.
See: Project unveiled to combat indigenous homelessness
And: Indigenous groups seek 'proportional' support, funding to fight homelessness
This project is the first of its kind for Indian Friendship Centres in the North. In North Bay, Indigenous people account for about 14 per cent of the population yet make up 42 per cent of the city’s homeless.
A coalition, led by the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre (NBIFC), and including the Native People of Nipissing Housing Corporation and the North Bay Indigenous Hub, previously released a paper titled Housing our Community: A Strategic Approach to Addressing Indigenous Homelessness in North Bay.
"Indigenous people are the major casualties in North Bay's current homelessness crisis, but city and provincial agencies are not involving Indigenous organizations in a meaningful way to address the issue," the position paper reads.
The Suswin Village development, is located across Cassells Street from the Friendship Centre and will contain 30 transitional housing units
