Latest news with #NeighbourlyHomes
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Saint John, N.B., to host public information session on new housing strategy
Saint John mayor Donna Reardon is pictured announcing 'Neighbourly Homes' are coming to Saint John on May 21, 2025. (Avery MacRae, CTV Atlantic) A week after announcing plans to partner with 12 Neighbors Inc. for the construction of a pair of Neighbourly Homes communities in Saint John, N.B., the city is hosting a community information session. The two-hour session will offer residents a chance to ask questions of city staff and over 14 other community groups and agencies that support the city's homeless population. Agencies expected to be present include 12 Neighbors Inc., Saint John Police, Fresh Start Services, Horizon Health and the Human Development Council. City representatives said they will explain the city's 'Housing for All' strategy during the session, including 'Green Zone' designations and their part in creating opportunities for full-time housing. They said they will also explore the Neighbourly Homes model in greater detail. The session will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Loch Lomond Villa. It is open to all members of the public. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTV News
21-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
12 Neighbours planning to build communities in Saint John
12 Homes Neighbours founder Marcel LeBrun announces 'Neighbourly Homes' are coming to Saint John. (Source: Avery MacRae/CTV News Atlantic)
CBC
19-05-2025
- General
- CBC
What's driving Marcel LeBrun's mission to eliminate homelessness in N.B.
Marcel LeBrun, founder of the 12 Neighbours tiny home community, wants to eliminate homelessness in New Brunswick, starting with Fredericton. But for his new project, Neighbourly Homes, to succeed, he needs municipalities and communities to get on board.
CBC
15-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
12 Neighbours founder wants to build 'rapidly deployable' transitional housing
Social Sharing Marcel LeBrun wants to eliminate homelessness in Fredericton, and he thinks he has the right model to make it happen. "We want to eliminate chronic homelessness," LeBrun said Tuesday. "And we want to inspire other communities and support other communities in the Maritimes to do the same thing." LeBrun is the founder of 12 Neighbours in Fredericton, which has been providing stable, permanent housing through tiny homes over the past three years to people living rough. Now he's looking to expand with transitional housing through Neighbourly Homes. LeBrun describes the new model as a "rapidly deployable, courtyard-style housing model" made up of 14 individual units with communal bathrooms and showers. Wrap-around services and community support are also integral to his vision, as LeBrun looks to house the nearly 200 people living rough in Fredericton. It's important that the units be "ultra-low barrier," he said. WATCH | Marcel LeBrun explains transitional housing service: Founder of 12 Neighbours wants to do more to end homelessness 18 minutes ago Duration 2:24 "You take away all the reasons why people choose to stay outside. There's no curfew, you have a private space that's lockable, you don't have to leave during the daytime. "This fills a gap in our housing for people with complex challenges and helps them to have a safe, warm place from which we can help them build up the capacity to fund housing that's permanent." Current estimates put the homeless population in New Brunswick at about 2,500 people. Susan Hallet, who lives in 12 Neighbours and works in the factory constructing the new units, will also serve on the advisory board for the new project. The new communities, Hallet said, will be a key piece of stability for those who are spending all of their time just struggling to survive. "It's easier to start a stable life on a firm foundation — that's what it's all about," she said. "This is the perfect stepping stone to start your life off. They just need to have somewhere that's safe, secure and warm." The launch is supported by a $1.5 million donation from Dave and Paula O'Leary and Marcel and Sheila LeBrun. That donation will finance the first 200 units, some of which are likely to be in Fredericton. Others will be in communities across the province. Construction on the units will begin immediately, and LeBrun said the factory can produce a unit a day for about $7,500. The average price for a new affordable housing unit is about $350,000, he said. A site hasn't been selected for the first of the new Neighbourly Home communities, but LeBrun said he's hoping to work with the provincial and municipal governments to find temporary locations and to secure operational funding to run them. "We're trying to remove the barriers to rapidly deploying housing," LeBrun said.
