GUYSBOROUGH – After a quiet spell spent learning how to operate its first apartment building, Guysborough County’s only community-based housing organization is preparing to put a long-term growth strategy before its board.
Community First: Guysborough County Housing Association has worked with Moncton-based housing and community development consultant Pivot Housing Solutions for the past five or six months on a plan intended to guide at least five to 10 years of growth.
“It gives us some clarity on which communities, which parts of the county we want to work on, the types of housing, and it helps give us some focus,” board chair Nancy O’Regan told The Journal in an interview last week.
The process follows what she described as a “learning year” for the volunteer-run organization, incorporated in 2024, which operates a six-unit apartment building in Boylston. “We really wanted to just take a break and learn what it means to be a property owner, to manage our building properly,” O’Regan said.
Community First had considered expanding the Boylston property to house another 20 or 30 people, but shelved the idea, for the time being, because it sits along a busy section of highway. “The transportation is an issue there,” O’Regan said. “There’s not a lot of sidewalks,” she added, and the proposed expansion “didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Instead, it has concentrated on improving the building and learning what is required to manage tenants and rental units. It has also applied for Efficiency Nova Scotia funding to install heat pumps and add exterior insulation and siding. “This has really been about a learning year for us around how to do what we already have,” O’Regan said.
Certainly, the housing need that led to the organization’s creation hasn’t abated; O’Regan said she hears weekly from people who need housing. “There’s lots of communities that want housing, but where can we get the best impact for the most number of people and be the closest to amenities?”
The planning work has examined demand among seniors, single-parent families, larger families interested in home ownership and people with disabilities who may require independent-living supports. The proposed model also includes a mix of rent levels intended to serve people with the greatest affordability needs as well as moderate-income households.
Crucially, O’Regan said, the new strategy will address how Community First can grow large enough to employ staff. She estimated that owning 60 to 70 units could generate enough operating income to support a staff position. The association has identified a property and tenant manager and an executive director as priorities. “Right now, it’s all on the backs of volunteers – every bit of it,” she said. “At some point, to get to a level of capacity where we can build more housing, we need to have some paid staff.”
In 2025, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough committed $20,000 annually for four years to help cover Community First’s operating costs while it develops future projects. Last month, MODG announced the association’s second $20,000 allocation under that commitment through its Affordable Housing Fund, part of the municipality’s general government grant program.
A revised draft of the growth strategy is expected to go to Community First’s board in mid-August or early September.
