Province offers low-interest mortgage to John Howard Society to help ex-offenders

(SOURCE: Pexels)

The province is helping more men find housing in Halifax after completing a prison sentence.

It’s providing a low-interest $1.1 million mortgage to the John Howard Society of Nova Scotia to help it buy and renovate a home to provide transitional housing to eight residents.

“A house is more than a place to call home,” Housing Minister John Lohr says in a news release. “Access to safe, supportive housing can open doors to new opportunities for the men who live there. It can provide options and help break the cycles of poverty and ongoing conflict with the justice system.”

The Department of Community Services is providing the society $828,000 in annual funding for ongoing operations, on-site support, and services.

Those services include 24-hour staffing, a housing support worker to help residents find permanent housing and other services such as mental health or employment supports.

This is the second non-profit organization to receive lending support through the Province’s new Community Housing Acquisition Program.