Tiny homes in Kemptville are making a big difference for low-income seniors

Kim Hayes says her new tiny home in Kemptville, Ont., means everything to her.

“It’s stability. It’s home. And it’s something I haven’t felt for over 18 years, so it’s a big deal,” says Hayes, who’s moved 28 times over nearly two decades in search of a more affordable life.

She’s now occupying one of the first four independent living units built by the Shalom Small Homes project, with the support of the community just outside Ottawa.

The not-for-profit was founded four years ago to provide affordable housing for low-income senior citizens struggling to pay market rent in larger homes, said co-founder Cora Beking.

That struggle was something she observed while volunteering with the annual community Christmas dinner, Beking said.

“You could tell that people needed their own place to stay and it just wasn’t affordable,” she said.

Shalom Small Homes completed the four units last year and is now fundraising to build 16 more.

But making the vision of affordable rent for seniors a reality took the buy-in of the local community. After partnering with North Grenville Mayor Nancy Peckford, the municipality made land available on a 40-year lease.

Skilled volunteers and local contractors then helped build the single-storey 600-square-foot units, according to Shalom Small Homes founder Janne Ritskes.

Even with all that support, the initial cost estimate of $50,000 per unit ballooned to $125,000, Ritskes said — underscoring the difficulty of providing affordable living on the open market. 

Irrespective of those construction costs, rent is calculated at a third of a tenant’s income and includes incidentals like water and snow removal in winter.

“So they hopefully have enough to be able to pay their bills, buy food, and go out for coffee or something once in a while,” said Ritskes, who returned to Canada after a career abroad working in poor communities with faith-based organizations. 

Hayes returned to Kemptville after losing her job in a kitchen during the pandemic. When her life “went sideways again because of [prices] and stuff,” she said she applied to the Shalom Small Homes project.

Like the other units, Hayes’s is a single-storey semi-detached, with a combined living room and kitchen, a bedroom, and a full bathroom with a washer and dryer.

There’s even a patio and yard with planter boxes.

“This house is everything to me,” she said.

‘A gift from God’

Next door, Anne Wolfe described the residents of the tiny homes as “a bunch of really nice ladies.”

“We all live our own lives, but we all get along as well,” she said.

Wolfe choked back tears as she described her own unit as her “pride and joy” and the start of a new life. 

“As a senior, sometimes you don’t have the means for a place that’s really expensive. And I had no place to go, so this was a gift from God,” she said.

With the success of the pilot project, Ritskes says she’s now fielding about five calls a week from other seniors searching for affordable housing.

That’s provided the impetus to continue expansion plans, with Shalom Small Homes launching a campaign to raise $2 million to build 16 more units — something Ritskes notes could be achieved if a million Canadians just chip in a toonie.

“Canadians are compassionate,” Ritskes said. “Given an opportunity, they always deliver.”