Photo credit: City News Toronto
An erstwhile Victorian mansion at 28 Carlton Street, Downtown Toronto, has officially opened its doors to an affordable housing property for marginalized Indigenous men.
The property is in Cabbagetown. The mansion, built in 1877, was formerly used as office space. The conversion to affordable housing units began in December 2022. The city acquired the property as part of a “community benefits charge” agreement with MOD Developments. MOD Developments fully renovated it and transferred it back to the city for use as permanent affordable rental housing. It will provide safe, secure, and deeply affordable housing for former residents of Na-Me-Res shelters or Indigenous men who are living on the street.
The property has been given the Anishnawbe name Migize Pazaagwii Gamik, which translates into English as Uplifting Place of the Bald Eagle.
At the opening ceremony on Monday, Steve Teekens, the executive director of Na-Me-Res, explained how they chose the name.
“We approached an elder and gave them tobacco and asked them to come up with a good name for this new space that would be fitting for residents that are transitioning from various experiences of homelessness to getting housed. And that was the name the elder felt was most appropriate,” he said.
