EPSG NEWS & UPDATES

Edmonton Pride Senior Group 2024-2025 Update

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:26:58 GMT

Update from EPSG

It has been a long time since information on this site has been updated, so what follow is a shortened version of the work undertaken by Edmonton Pride Senior Group (EPSG).

Over the last two years our challenge was obtaining land to build a residence for older 2SLGBTQ+ persons and friends. To assist us as well as moving forward EPSG has now partnered with Right At Home Housing (RAHH), a 40 year non-profit charitable organization that has built and currently operates affordable housing. RAHH brings the knowledge of securing land, CMHC mortgages, provincial funding which mirrors our vision for a residence.

With a lot of work on the part of EPSG we successfully lobbied Edmonton City Council to rezone 6 city owned lots on the corner of 101a Avenue bordered on the west by 95 street and on the south Rowland Road making the lots available for affordable housing for non–profit organizations!

Securing that land for our housing project took the work of RAHH and ourselves 18 months however, just before Christmas 2025 we were awarded the land at no cost!!

The Edmonton Pride Senior Group realized that we needed to make changes. Under Federal legislation we became a registered non-profit society. With Society bylaws, EPSG has a general membership with an elected Board of Directors. The society convened an initial General Meeting and will have Annual General Meetings in the future. At the same time much remains the same—our goal of ensuring safe, welcoming and appropriate services, programs and housing for 2SLGBTQ+ seniors. Our Aging With Pride program, special events like the Strawberry Tea during June Pride and our positive relationship with SAGE Edmonton continue.

Next steps for the community housing residence includes a Capital Campaign initiative contracted by Global Philanthropic, RAHH and EPSG applying for a development permit for 50+ units, architectral drawings, a cost budget and a project manager/building developer—over 2026/27.

Michael Phair, Chair EPSG

Housing Update! Land Application Submitted!!

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 02:12:50 GMT

Exciting News!

We want to update you with exciting news about our 2SLGBTQIA+ friendly seniors housing for our community and friends and allies since our last Newsletter in 2023!! In late Spring of 2024, our consultant submitted an excellent land application City of Edmonton!! Our housing will provide mixed income housing to address affordability needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors, and allies, by providing a total of 60 to 80 one and two bedroom units. Over 51% of units will be below market rents for 40 years. The affordable rents are based on the (CMHC) Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation analysis for this specific Edmonton Downtown zone.

Below is a proposed Conceptual Rendering of a 3D Model of our building which at this stage will include a covered courtyard for increasing resident socialization and interaction. However, the final design may change as our architect develops more detailed plans. Talks are currently underway with the City of Edmonton administration on a variety of issues concerning our project. Stay tuned for further updates when we hopefully acquire the land!!

Prop osed Location of our housing project on the Rowland Road Land Site (6 lots)

Interest free-loan from CMHC!

On August 17, 2024 Right at Home Housing Society (our key housing partner) received a SEED interest-free loan

that will help us to prepare initial documents and will allow us to initiate a Geotechnical evaluation on the land,

once we take ownership and likely such items as the architectural and mechanical drawings, and an energy

modeling report to establish how energy efficient the building will be. As the EPSG housing project moves

forward, we will be working with CMHC to secure additional funding (both grants and loans) including our CMHC

insured mortgage if we secure the land.

Stay tuned for further updates! Watch our future E-Newsletters!

Prepared by: Blair MacKinnon, October 11, 2024

Orientation for New Members

bmackinnon@interbaun.com (Blair MacKinnon) — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 02:03:57 GMT

Welcome to EPSG!

Welcome to EPSG!

You are joining a group of eager volunteers made up of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and allies who have come together over the last decade with ideas, passion, and commitment to find ways to push initiatives and policies that address barriers around services, activity centres, and housing for the growing population of older 2SLGBTQ+ residents and allies in the Edmonton area.

Vision:

Our vision is ambitious: To create safe, inclusive, and supportive spaces that will improve the quality of life and support the older 2SLGBTQ+ community and allies in the City of Edmonton and region. We do this through research and evidence (environmental scans, surveys, focus groups and community discussions, interviews, professional expertise) as well as building on our collective experience. We envision an urban environment free from the social stigma, fanatical prejudice, toxic fear, and extreme bullying that severely harmed many queer people growing up in mid-20 ^th century Canada. We envision an urban environment in which older 2SLGBTQ+ residents and allies can lead authentic lives without anxiety and without the fear of “going back into the closet”.

Programs and Projects:

We articulate policy and operational concerns that impact older 2SLGBTQ+ adults in the areas of education and awareness, health promotion, recreational and social activities, government services at all levels, congregate housing, independent living, and aging in place. Our focus is always on facilitating a sense of older 2SLGBTQ+ community. Since our first open survey in 2014-2015, which focused on service and housing needs, we have developed a solid record of project funding grants from City of Edmonton and Government of Canada community programs that we use to engage outside expertise and resources for our proposals and plans.

Our major program areas are education and awareness for residents, staff, and leaders in more than 30 local seniors-serving organizations and services; and our seniors housing project. Key initiatives to date are:

The Aging with Pride series, now in its fourth year of programming, is archived for public access on You Tube at Aging with Pride [ https://www.youtube.com/@edmontonprideseniorsgroup2676/playlists ]
A tri-city partnership with Saskatoon and Winnipeg queer agencies to develop programs to reduce isolation and loneliness
Consultations with professional groups, government officials, and the former Alberta Seniors Advocate
Creation of a dedicated website for EPSG at https://www.epsg.ca/ and publication of an EPSG Newsletter
The seniors housing development project.

Several “Overview” documents provide further background information: Overview of Key Housing Project Documents ; Overview of the Joint Venture Agreement between EPSG , Right at Home Housing Society, and Garneau United Assisted Living Place ; and, Development of Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ Community .

2SLGBTQ+ Seniors Housing Project:

The most ambitious initiative undertaken to date by EPSG is the development and financing of an inclusive 2SLGBTQ+ seniors housing project. This project was prompted by a question almost all 2SLGBTQ+ seniors eventually face as their circumstances change with age – a question that other (non-queer) seniors never have to consider in thinking about their own futures: “If I move into a seniors facility, will I be forced back into the closet either for my own safety or because of external pressures?”

We envisage a 60+ unit mixed-income rental apartment facility for independent living that is inclusive, safe, welcoming, affordable, and sustainable; eligible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation support; strives for a sense of home and ‘community’; and meets a core need currently unaddressed in the City. We have educated ourselves on the types of building designs, features, amenities, and programming that will make it a community success. The Seniors Housing Prospectus , Dec. 2020, is the result of these myriad considerations.

Status and Functioning:

EPSG is a self-organizing group of volunteers who bring remarkably diverse occupations, experiences, and life skills to our activities. Originally started by Michael Phair and Sherry McKibben in 2013, EPSG was registered under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act in Jan. 2022, and operates as the Edmonton Pride Seniors Group Society under By-laws formally adopted in Dec. 2022. Currently we function as a policy and management board of the whole, supplemented by a three-person formal board that acts as legal signing authority. We hold monthly meetings on the 1 ^st Monday of the month, with written agendas and minutes. Currently, we offer a hybrid format – both in-person meetings, held at SAGE, and also via ZOOM. For the most part, our meetings are conducted informally through consensus-building, without a felt need for formal parliamentary rules. Our public website is found at www.epsg.ca .

What we are looking for in new members is active participation in meetings and in current programs and projects, as well as bringing new ide as to the table for discussion and identifying potential new members.

Key Partners:

To advance EPSG program and project goals, we work and partner with:

SAGE: EPSG has benefited richly over the past decade from the gracious support of the Sage Seniors Association, a multi-service non-profit charitable organization offering over 100 programs and services to older Edmontonians. The Association provides EPSG with meeting space, receives EPSG grant funding, and manages our financial accounting. This relationship has been instrumental in enabling EPSG to secure modest but extremely valuable grant support for many of its projects.

Pride Centre of Edmonton : EPSG has developed a close working relationship with the Pride Centre, which has provided staff and resources for our Aging with Pride program.

Right At Home Housing Society: EPSG has also benefited enormously from consultations and partnership with the Right At Home Housing Society , a non-profit charitable organization with 30+ years building and owning hundreds of mixed-income affordable housing units. In addition to responsibility for the design and construction of the apartment facility, RAHHS will work with EPSG in a Capital Campaign to raise community funds to support the project. Further, RAHHS has a CMHC seed funding no-interest loan for the project start-up and will seek a CMHC-insured mortgage for the construction and long term financing of the project. EPSG signed a Joint Venture Agreement with RAHH in the summer of 2023.

Prepared by Alvin Schrader, Blair MacKinnon, and Michael Phair

Fall 2024

Housing Update – Spring 2022

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 18:27:59 GMT

Edmonton Pride Seniors Group is a Society!!

We wanted to update you on our progress since our last newsletter! On January 10, 2022 we became federally incorporated under the Canada Not-for Profit Corporations Act as Edmonton Pride Seniors Group Society! This is very important because we need to be an incorporated society to be eligible for various housing grants from CMHC, the City of Edmonton and to apply for land etc.

Agreement with a key Partner: Garneau

Another exciting development-we are now close to completion of a MOU (Memo of Understanding) between EPSG and one of our wonderful key partners, Garneau United Assisted Living Place (GUALP. A MOU is a key partnership agreement about collaboration and how we move forward to work together. Garneau owns and operates The Ashbourne, a 110 unit seniors facility in Garneau. They became an Affirming facility in 2017 which means they support a Community where people are welcomed regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification and faith. The Pride Flag is displayed proudly in their lobby and they now have a substantial library of gay and lesbian literature!

Land

We are now working with the City of Edmonton to hopefully secure a Rowland Rd site. The City has a application process to provide land to not-for- profit housing groups for affordable housing. Still lots of work to be done yet-keep your fingers crossed! This is a nice location on quiet 101 Ave off of Rowland Road -it has wonderful views of Riverdale and is close to bicycle paths and to downtown amenities like buses and LRT. Here’s a link to the site if you want to see it or walk over to view it!

https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/assets/RowlandBlockListing.pdf

Safe, Inclusive Housing For 2SLGBTQIA+ Seniors

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 20:28:47 GMT

Work is progressing on Edmonton Pride Seniors Group’s safe, inclusive housing for 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors, their friends and allies! 212 members of our community told us they don’t want to have to worry about going back into the closet! They want a place to live comfortably, safely with people who understand their needs & life experience.

Given the limited availability of land in the Oliver neighbourhood, we now have a consultant carefully looking at a number of potential sites across Edmonton. Of course, we will ensure any potential site has the features that you indicated were important to you- close to LRT and bus transit, a walkable neighbourhood, close to important services like grocery stores, pharmacies etc.

We are also working closely with our enthusiastic partners who include SAGE, the City of Edmonton and Garneau United Assisted Living (The Ashbourne). As one of our EPSG focus group participants stated:

“This building would mean I could live in a community with like-minded individuals, where we could thrive, where we wouldn’t have to go back into the closet, where we wouldn’t have to be inauthentic just to survive.”