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The Shuswap Association for Community Living (SACL) has been supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in the community of Salmon Arm since 1963. In 2005, the SACL Board of Directors realized that the people we were supporting were having difficulty finding safe and affordable rental accommodations. After much discussion and debate, SACL decided to delve into the development of a three suite rental unit.
With the assistance of Marg Kental of ReMax, SACL purchased a derelict home at the corner of 5th Street SE and 5th Avenue SE in the summer of 2005. As the home was a hazard, it was demolished within a month of purchase.
 In our deliberations, the Board was fully prepared to hold the lot for the next several years while we fundraised enough to start construction. That is when fate intervened. Ernie Nelson, who was the then instructor for the Shuswap Construction and Industry Professionals (SCIP) and Okanagan College Residential Construction program in the fall of 2005 and a parent of one of the people that SACL supports, approached the SACL Executive Director, Greg Cheyne with an idea for building social housing in Salmon Arm. As SACL already had a lot, Ernie took this to the committee responsible for determining the next project.
After some deliberation, the committee agreed to the concept and construction began in the spring of 2006. The project was fully completed by March 2007 and a number of individuals with varying level intellectual disabilities and need for support are successfully living in the units.
SACL was very proud to participate in this worthwhile project with the Shuswap Construction and Industry Professionals and their members, Okanagan College, School District #83 and the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union.
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