Home for the holidays: 25 formerly homeless Calgary women to get apartments of their own

In time for the holidays, 25 formerly homeless Calgary women will be moving into apartments of their own.

The Maple, a new apartment building in Bridgeland, will offer 24/7 counselling resources, medical supports and trauma recovery programs for its residents, who have dealt with frequent or long-term homelessness.

"In this home they're going to get the supports they need … and a safe place to call home every single night," said Diana Kresy with the Calgary Homeless Foundation.

Kresy said each person experiencing homelessness is dealing with a unique set of circumstances, which is why the building provides a wide range of resources and a community to help the women succeed.

Later this week, the Homeless Foundation will be honouring 125 homeless people who have died this year in Calgary.

"Today there are 25 women who aren't going to be on that list who will be going into a home for the holiday season and hopefully for the rest of their life," she said.

"In a city where we are so wealthy, we have so much, that we have people in homelessness it's not a comment on them. It's a comment on the rest of us."

Each women will be housed in a furnished studio apartment, and will have access to a community space, shared kitchen and meeting rooms.

The project was funded by the provincial and federal governments, with additional funding from the RESOLVE Campaign (a partnership between nine social service agencies) and the city's housing incentive program.