REGINA — A new development for single mothers in Regina has officially opened, supporting families coming out of difficult situations.
Lilium Village, run by MayBell Developments, is a 12-unit duplex aimed at supporting mothers.
Victoria Aspinall, board president of MayBell Developments, said the first tenant for the duplex moved in this week, with the village conducting a slow intake of families.
“If we were to do [an] intake of everybody all at the same time, that’s 12 families for our case worker, our support worker, to build relationships with [families] all at the same time,” she noted.
Instead, MayBell Developments will bring in five to six families over the next two weeks to build relationships, case plans and allow tenants to settle in.
Relationship building is part of MayBell Developments’ core.
“We feel that is essential to the breaking [of] this poverty cycle. We can’t break a poverty cycle if we don’t have relationships. We can throw money at a situation as much as we want, but that’s not going to help people to genuinely feel loved and cared for,” said Aspinall.
Lilium Village aims to equip mothers with essential job and tenancy skills to help them transition back into the rental market.
Even though the village has just opened, the waitlist for supportive units is already growing.
“As organizations have started to find out a little bit more about what MayBell is doing with Lilium, that’s added growth to the waitlist,” noted Aspinall.
Aspinall said even before the village became widely known, roughly 30 people had contacted them, highlighting the need for supportive housing units.
For their first year, Aspinall is hopeful that women in the unit will take control of their future, develop a plan and will be actively involved in its development.
As for MayBell Developments, Aspinall said the focus is on stabilizing their new development.
“We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew, essentially. We want to be smart and wise in our decisions.”
In the future, MayBell Developments is hoping to build supportive housing units for single dads based on need.
Lilium Village is located on the grounds of the former Trinity Lutheran Church parking lot.
The 12-unit development offers affordable housing for single mothers, with rent set at 30 per cent of household income and eligibility based on Saskatchewan Household Income Maximum low-income guidelines.
