In addition to being a mother, Rachel Goldstien has been a caregiver to her son, Hunter, for the longest time.
But when Hunter turned 19 and moved out into Filby Courts, not only was his transition into adulthood smoother, the relationship with his mother also became stronger.
The weight of being a constant caregiver was taken off the mother's shoulders and the duo started to embrace a healthier parent-son relationship.
Through the new BC Housing development project that opened doors for shared living arrangements for people living with disabilities, relationships like the Goldstiens' evolved.
"There's not enough housing for him for people that have a disability to have their independence and be part of a community and just experiencing different parts of life that we all take for granted," Rachel Goldstien said. "So I hope that this is just the start continues to grow."
The Goldstiens' story is just one of the many.
This new project consisting of two apartment buildings developed by BC Housing is equipped to provide rental homes at affordable costs for the people living with disabiltiies along with 37 child-care spaces in the facility.
The mixed-use housing development project, which is a part of the province's 10-year, $7 billion housing plan, is located at 3755 Banff Ave. in Burnaby.
With a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedrooms, the Filby Courts buildings, can provide an accessible home to people with disabilities. Minister of Children and Family development and Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Katrina Chen said that this is a great example of the community working together.
"I think the housing project is going to support the diverse needs of our community, to make our community a more inclusive place to live, work and learn," she said in a statement to Glacier Media. "And for the childcare project, it's really going to help to support parents' needs, the spaces that are provided here. They're highly inclusive and they also have really quality early learning curriculum.
The province is not the only major investor for the project. The Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion (BACI), the owner and operator of the homes, contributed equity of $1.3 million for this project.
In addition to providing on-site care to residents living with disabilities, they operate Little Eagles Child Care Centre for Excellence, which is available to the entire community.
Richard Faucher, executive director of BACI, said he appreciates the support the organization has been given in the past three years.
Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley commended the development,
"It's an important project, and we hope to keep expanding more and more of these," he told Glacier Media. "The impact we're hoping to see is a normalizing of life for people who now have an opportunity to live on their own, or to live with their caregiver."
Monthly rents range from $725 for a studio to $1,300 for a two-bedroom.
