Partnership provides housing on Métis settlement

The Elizabeth Métis Settlement and Habitat for Humanity Edmonton have signed a first-of-its-kind agreement to provide the Habitat program to MÈtis families on the settlement. Skyrider Developments will build three of the four duplexes and provide the duplexes at a greatly reduced rate to settlement members who will then donate the homes to HFHE. The fourth duplex will be built by HFHE who will oversee all the interest-free mortgage payments that all eight families will pay and will reinvest those mortgage payments into more Habitat homes for MÈtis families. “The Elizabeth MÈtis Settlement and Habitat Edmonton have been discussing how we can make a partnership work for many years,” said Alfred Nikolai, president and CEO, HFHE, in a news release. “This historical agreement between our entities will provide much needed home ownership to our members and begin a process of responsible home equity development,” said Christopher Desjarlais, vice-chair of the Elizabeth Métis Settlement. The settlement has an approximate population of 700.