Housing Corporation Closes Door On New Housing Projects In Frontenac County

Jeff Green | Jan 21, 2014

One of the peculiarities of municipal amalgamation in Ontario is the role that the City of Kingston plays in the delivery of social services in Frontenac County.

The Kingston and Frontenac Housing Corporation (KFHC) is a not-for profit corporation but it is affiliated with the City of Kingston, which appoints members to its board. It manages 967 rental units, including 28 in Frontenac County.

Those 28 one-bedroom units are located in McMullen Manor, which is located on Verona Main Street.

In a presentation to Frontenac County Council last week, Mary Lynn Cousins Brame, the chief executive officer of

KFHC, made one thing crystal clear: KFHC has no plans to expand its stock of housing in Frontenac County.

“As far as us building new rental units in Frontenac County, it is not going to happen,” she said. “We are more than happy to do a partnership dealing with property management, but we are not going to be building ourselves.”

Brame said that KFHC has found that McMullen Manor provides a sufficient level of service for the housing demands in the county.

“People say there is a need for more housing units in the county but we have 28 units at McMullen Manor and 27 people on the waiting list to be housed there. Of those 27 people, only nine are from the County of Frontenac and the rest are from Kingston. Only three people on the waiting list are seniors and none of those people are from the county,” she said.

She added, “Most people find it hard to live in that building because of the lack of amenities, and when we put urban people in a rural setting it is not very successful. The turnover in that building in 2011 was 46%; in 2012 it was 20% and in 2013 it was 36%. We find that the only way to have people housed successfully in Verona is for them to have transportation.”

On the other hand, Brame said that after spending the day at McMullen Manor just two days before the county meeting, she found that, “It is a beautiful building and it is well maintained and we hope to keep it that way.”

McMullen Manor had its septic system replaced a couple of years ago. New windows have been installed and plans are in place for further improvements over the next couple of years.

“Some of these kinds of expenditures can be expected for a building that is 23 years old,” she said.

She also addressed an issue that has been lingering in the background in the Verona community for 13 years, the fact that McMullen Manor was originally built as a seniors' housing complex and was changed over to an adult building in 2000.

“McMullen Manor is never going to revert to its former status as a seniors' building. That will never happen. It is a two storey walk-up and that is not suitable accommodation for ageing people,” she said.

Cousins-Brame was one of four people who addressed housing concerns at the county meeting last week. The others included Kingston City Councillor Dorothy Hector, who talked about the housing efforts of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and Sheldon Laidman from the City of Kingston, who talked about the homelessness initiative in the city and the county as well as the Kingston-Frontenac Renovates program.

Finally, Wayne Robinson from Sharbot Lake made a short presentation about the closing of the Sharbot Lake Seniors' Home and the need for support from the county for seniors' housing initiatives.

“I don't believe the need in the North is so much for a seniors' or nursing home but just some way of providing a level of care and housing for seniors that is subsidised in some way. The county is really the only warm body standing in this situation. The municipal councils believe it is not in their mandate or they do not have the resources for it. People who need something more than a residence to live in need to be on the agenda of the county. It is disappointing that there is a facility sitting there that is empty but could be used for such a purpose,” he said.