REDI officially opens six-unit affordable care home
REDI officially opens six-unit affordable care home
REDI officially opens six-unit affordable care home
By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on September 12, 2026.
A new stride in accessible housing, REDI Enterprises Society officially opened the doors Friday to Hampson House, which will provide affordable supported care for six Hatters.
The space is named for Cathy Hampson, whose story was unfortunately a familiar one to many people living with disabilities from the 1930s to 1980s, says REDI executive director Josh Hudson. At the time, Hampson had been placed into care at Michener Centre, which was run by the provincial government.
The institution did not offer personal belongings or private spaces for residents, with everything being communal, explained Hudson.
When someone from REDI first encountered Hampson, she was in possession of a single red shoelace taken from a communal pair of runners, which she refused to let go of as her sole personal possession. It was only after an extended period placed into her own home that the shoelace became less important, when previously she would hold on to it even as she slept.
This new house intends to do for others what was done for Hampson, and provide an accessible and affordable space for those with disabilities to call their own.
“This is a project we’ve been working on for the last couple of years. It addresses a couple of needs that we’ve seen in the community with regards to housing for people with disabilities,” said Hudson.
The space accommodates three residents who require around-the-clock care in a shared supported-living home, but also features three studio suites for residents who can largely live independently and may only need occasional or incidental support.
The studio apartments include their own kitchen and washroom spaces, with a shared laundry and storage areas for tenants.
This mixed model is new and innovative for REDI, says Hudson, and was inspired upon looking at the lot on Ninth Street SE which would eventually become the Hampson House.
“It kind of came up when we were talking about the prospect of building a house,” said Hudson. “Our leadership group at REDI, we took a look around and we see this need and we see this need, and they’re they’re very different. Then the opportunity to get this lot came up, an empty lot, so we could kind of build what we wanted.
“Eventually somebody piped up and asked, “Can we do both in one building?’ And so then we started working with that idea.”
The house was built without government funding, on the proceeds of Hampson’s estate, which her family donated to REDI following her passing in 2019, as well as mortgage financing provided by Servus Credit Union.
REDI expressed gratitude to Brost Developments and JayCo Homes, which collaborated with it to make the build possible.
“We find that in supporting people with disabilities, they do face usually two main barriers around obtaining housing,” said Hudson. “One is affordability. A lot of people with disabilities are on fixed incomes, which isn’t a lot of money, and so their ability to pay rent even is somewhat restricted.”
Owning the property allows REDI to dictate what the rent is for the building, as opposed to market rates. Other barriers include access restrictions such as stairs and a need for support on site.
It is REDI’s hope that this project can serve as a blueprint to help create more affordable housing solutions for those living with disabilities.
Online link: https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2026/09/12/redi-officially-opens-six-unit-affordable-care-home/