Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society
Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society (ENFHS) is a charitable not-for-profit housing organization that began almost 40 years ago by three single mothers looking to create more affordable housing for families like theirs. As one of Canada’s first women-led charitable housing organizations, ENFHS is committed to enhancing people’s lives, particularly the lives of women, single-parent families and other equity-deserving groups, by creating communities that provide affordable, safe, and secure housing. ENFHS now provides over 500 affordable rental homes to more than 1200 women, single parents, families, seniors and people with disabilities across 13 properties in Burnaby, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Vancouver and Surrey.
Building on its legacy, Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society is embarking on a new journey to transform from a housing operator to a women-led non-profit real estate developer with the capacity, resources and partnerships to scale the creation of affordable housing in Metro Vancouver. As part of this effort, ENFHS is pursuing the acquisition, development and redevelopment of multiple sites to double the number of affordable homes they operate by 2028. All projects will prioritize women-led households, gender-diverse groups, single-parent families, seniors, people with disabilities and those from Indigenous and racialized and other equity-deserving groups with low to moderate household incomes.
The journey to purchasing existing rental properties supports ENFHS’s five-year goal of doubling the number of people it serves and the homes it operates to increase equitable access to affordable housing for equity-deserving groups, enable aging-in-place and create communities of connection and belonging. The acquisitions also allow ENFHS to diversify their revenue model for a sustainable financial future that is not solely dependent on government subsidies.
The Vancity Affordable Community Housing Program provided an acquisition loan to help Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society conduct early-stage due diligence, submit deposits as part of their purchase requirements to secure the property and secure final funding and financing for multiple acquisition projects. ENFHS also received an initial grant from the Program to support feasibility study costs for developing five sites for affordable housing purposes.
“We are grateful for the financial support from the Vancity Affordable Community Housing Program to enable Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society to accelerate the development and protection of affordable housing in Metro Vancouver. The Program’s flexible and accessible capital gave us the financial backing to meet our mission and take advantage of current funding opportunities. Our partnership with Vancity Community Foundation and the Vancity Affordable Community Housing Program shows how social impact investments can get affordable housing projects off the ground quicker, maintain and protect affordability, and help more community members move into affordable homes in vibrant communities.”
Lilian Chau, CEO, Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society
ENFHS has been working diligently to advance its goals, and the recent announcements of “The Creek” at 300 Angela Drive in Port Moody and the project at 450 Pacific Street, Vancouver, exemplify its hard work. “The Creek” development, in partnership with M’akola Housing Society, will result in 328 new affordable rental homes in the heart of Port Moody, of which ENFHS will operate two buildings with 221 homes, with 40% of the homes dedicated to Indigenous women-led single-parent families. The 450 Pacific Street project, in partnership with Hogan’s Alley Society, will result in 91 units of affordable rental housing focusing on providing affordable housing to Black and people of African descent and other equity-deserving groups on leased lands from the City of Vancouver.