Donations to the Rainbow Ridge affordable housing project, on Cortes Island, have reached the point that all loans can now be repaid. 

A number of people loaned the project large sums of money, at rates as low as 0% interest.

Debt free & enough to pay back all loans

Project coordinator Sandra Wood was not sure how much they have raised to date, but could confirm that by the end of 2020 the project had received the $450,000 needed to repay all outstanding loans. 

“We have enough cash in hand to pay all of them back. There was never a mortgage on the Rainbow Ridge land. We bought the land outright with the money that local people had loaned us. So it wasn’t a mortgage, it was local loans combined with local cash that was donated, that enabled us to buy that property. So now we have no debt on the Rainbow Ridge property,” she said.

Moving forward: construction

They can now proceed to erect up to twenty-two affordable housing units in Mansons Landing.

Wood said they still have money left over for construction, and on top of that we are still waiting for the BC Housing Grant and project funding to be approved. 

“That’s what we are hoping to hear back, hopefully later this year,” said Wood.

She added, “Local Islanders are making this happen. They are using their personal savings and putting it towards community projects.”

Links of Interest:

• (Cortes Currents) articles about or mentioning the Rainbow Ridge project
• The Cortes Community Housing website
• (Cortes Currents) articles about, or mentioning, Cortes Community Housing
• (Cortes Currents) articles about or mentioning the Rainbow Ridge project
• (Cortes Currents) articles about or mentioning the Cortes Island Senior’s Village

This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.