How this church will become affordable housing for seniors

Last September, I think it was Labor Day weekend, we were at my mother's house and she said the church is coming up for sale, you guys should buy it and do something with it. We initially said no. I initially said no. We can't take on anything else, Jeremy Parker, is exactly what I said. It didn't age well because... Three days later she said I messaged Karen, the head of the church, and next week we're going to have a presentation for them about buying the building and turning it into seniors' apartments. Apartments that will look like this, plus a room for the community to worship. The Parker's goal, affordable units around $900 a month with utilities, and the first residents moving in by late winter. Living in a rural community can be cheaper, but it also comes with its challenges, meaning some seniors have left the Kemp Shore for Windsor and apartments that rent for $1,800 minimum. They couldn't find anywhere to look after the building. They could have their home, but then they had to hire snow removal and lawn care and odds and ends and they'd rather stay here, but couldn't afford to do it. Aging in place is huge because you don't lose that, I call it corporate knowledge. So when people move out of their community, you lose so much and the people do not want to move out of their community. Some do of course, but you know their grandchildren could be at the school just down the road. You go to Fish Supper across the road here. There's a health centre within about two, three kilometres where there's a doctor. Like this community has a lot of great things. Yes, it's rural, but it means so much that they can stay where they're comfortable. Like this couple, who were the first to have their name on the list for an apartment. Wilf, could you introduce yourself? Yeah, okay. I'm Wilfred Ogilvie. Lived here all my life, which is 88 years and I was born here in Somerville and been here ever since. Built a new house here and was one of the instigators on building a new church here too. So had a lot of work doing that. Yeah, so anything else? I'm Diane Ogilvie and I moved to Burlington when I was about 10 and I met Wilf when I was 14. He was playing for his 50th anniversary at his aunt and uncle's and I was tap dancing there. What instrument did you play, Wilf? Guitar. She danced straight into my heart. The Ogilvie's are long-time members of the Kempt United Church. In fact, Wilf worked on the plumbing and electrical and had one very important job. Here we go with the crane truck, lifting the steeple up to set it on top of the church. That's where Wilf would be up in here. I was up in the clouds. Near to heaven. This project that they've undertaken, what do you think of it? It's terrific. It's so needed. It's going to be made use of. Yeah. That's the big thing. Of course, we were sad when we had to sell it, but we also knew that we couldn't keep it up. So it was terrific when Jeremy and Andrea decided to do what they're going to do. And up until a little while ago, we were going to be here forever until our son figured we need a little more help. You never know who likes to land here. The Parkers also have a personal connection to this project. Jeremy's father was the pastor here for 27 years. You might say Jeremy has left his mark. I was a hyper child and my father is long-winded. So there could have been times when I was bored that I would run my teeth up and back the back of the pews. Framing is well underway and plumbing should be starting soon. While Jeremy is managing construction, Andrea has been learning the ropes of permits and securing funding through the CMHC and the province. It's a learning curve for her, but she says everyone can do their part. We have a love for community and we just wanted to do something that would make affordable rents, you know, pending on us getting the funding. This is not going to put food on our table. This is an outreach to community to help house vulnerable people. And just everybody can do something about this housing issue. Maybe not convert a church, but you can put a secondary suite or build something into your home to help someone. Jane Sponigal, CBC News, Somerville.