By Cheryl Jahn

New housing for moms-to-be one step closer

Feb 24, 2021 | 4:06 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It is an empty parking lot behind the Trinity Church on Fifth Avenue right now. But the folks with the Phoenix Transitional Housing Society hope to turn it into a 14-unit for moms-to-be to have healthy babies.

It has been the dream of Maria Brouwer for more than a decade and she currently oversees a smaller Harmony House off of Winnipeg Street. But it is too small to address the demand.

“What we learned is that there is a great need for this kind of services. Services for pregnant moms or mom just newly parenting,” explains Brouwer. ” To give them a hand up. To say ‘Okay, you’re in danger of losing the children to the Ministry.’ If you don’t want that, we’ll give you this opportunity.”

She says there is a waitlist of about a dozen and, while it is a Made-in-Prince George program, it has garnered provincial attention, recently getting a referral client from Cranbrook.

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The re-zoning was before Council Monday night and the first two readings were passed. There were a hundred letters, both for and against the facility.

Those who were in support wrote things like:

“Harmony House has successfully operated a six-bedroom house for four years serving 94 women from across Northern BC.”

“Harmony House services a critical need for mothers and pregnant women in Prince George.”

“It seems like such an excellent place for a transition home being so close to schools, major bus routes and parks .”

But not everyone is in support.

Letters from neighbours contained things like:

“…although I am all for helping people in need, it will bring undesirables to the neighbourhood.”

“I am sure it will kill the housing market in this area.”

“Prince George needs these types of services in the community, however, where these services go needs to be done with care as it can cause more problems than it ameliorates.”

If approved, there will be Harmony House on the ground floor and transitional housing on the second floor. And Brouwer hopes it can become a model.

“What I hope is that Harmony House is a model for other communities to emulate, to set up their own Harmony Houses.”