WoodGreen Community Services has entered into a long-term agreement with non-profit seniors’ housing provider St. Hilda’s to be the property manager of its three housing buildings near Dufferin and Eglinton. As part of the agreement, WoodGreen will lead the transition of two of the buildings from a retirement home setting to independent living apartments with supports (such as light housekeeping, meal prep, and medication reminders) onsite.
“WoodGreen is proud to support St. Hilda’s tradition of offering quality homes for seniors,” said Dorothy Quon, WoodGreen’s Vice President of Community Care, Seniors & Wellness. “Even more, we look forward to bringing expertise in affordable housing along with our high-quality programs and services to support the health and well-being of residents, helping them to thrive in their homes and maintain their independence as long as possible.”
WoodGreen staff will oversee the day-to-day operations, while St. Hilda’s will continue to own the sites and have its own board of directors. As part of its new role, WoodGreen has also hired many of St. Hilda’s former staff to ensure the continuity of care for residents.
“We were impressed by the professionalism of WoodGreen and their personnel,” said Douglas Stoute, President of St. Hilda’s Seniors Community, about why their organization chose WoodGreen to manage the sites. “We knew that they were people that we could work with.”
Read more: How WoodGreen’s innovation is helping to build more affordable housing in Toronto.
Changes are underway at St. Hilda’s
St. Hilda’s has been a mainstay in the Dufferin and Eglinton neighbourhood for 120 years, starting out as an Anglican parish and transforming into one of Toronto’s first senior housing providers during the 1970s. Currently, it offers 474 affordable housing units for seniors.
Two of the St. Hilda’s buildings, the Dufferin and Vaughan are being renovated to transition into supportive-living apartments that offer supports (such as light housekeeping, meal prep, and medication reminders) onsite. The third building, the Lewis Garnsworthy Residence, offers individual, rent-geared-to-income apartments.
The newly renovated studio and one-bedroom apartments in the Vaughan Tower dedicated to seniors 59 years old and older are ready for renting. Anyone interested in renting one of the apartments can apply on the St. Hilda’s website.
WoodGreen is an experienced seniors’ housing provider
Demand for social housing remains high among seniors as approximately one-third of more than 80,000 applicants on the city’s social housing waitlist are seniors, with a wait time of 10 years or more. Permanent, affordable rental housing available with built-in support services helps relieve pressure on the shelter system, emergency departments, and long-term care.
“With a housing crisis and the cost of rent continually going up, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for vulnerable seniors living on low or fixed incomes to be able to afford a place to live in Toronto,” said Anne Babcock, President & CEO of WoodGreen Community Services. “WoodGreen, as a leader in affordable housing, is working hard to help solve this pressing unmet need in Toronto.”
WoodGreen, one of the largest and most experienced non-profit housing providers in Toronto, currently owns or manages more than 1,200 affordable housing units. It has an ambitious goal to reach 3,000 units by the end of this decade. Additionally, WoodGreen is a seniors’ care specialist with more than 55 years of experience creating successful tenancies. One thing that sets WoodGreen apart is its wide range of connected services for seniors such as housing, community health services including Meals on Wheels, social programs, and more.
Learn more about how we are supporting seniors with supportive, affordable housing. Read about our Open House at 540 Cedarvale Ave. last fall.
