Single parents studying at Acadia University will be among those benefiting from more affordable housing units announced Wednesday.

The new units -- 16 in Windsor and 22 in Wolfville -- will include five set aside for single parents enrolled at Acadia. Two of the units are on campus, and the other three are in an off-campus development nearby.

The projects are valued at $2.4 million.
"The housing is more than bricks and mortar," Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison said at the announcement at Acadia. "It allows individuals to build a better future for themselves and their families."

David Morse, Kings South MLA and community services minister said the program "should go a long way toward putting low-income single parents on the way to getting an education."

Paula Cook, Acadia's vice-president of student affairs, said the Nova Scotia student aid program, Thursday's announcement and the university's bursary program will mean single parents who qualify won't have to worry about the high cost of housing and child care and will have better access to an education.

The university spots are a pilot project that will be assessed at the end of the 2006-07 academic year.
The two units now available include a three-bedroom house and a three-bedroom apartment with separate outside entrance in the Crowell Tower residence.

"Affordable rental housing helps make for healthy and diverse communities, and we continue to work with our community partners to help those who need it the most," Mr. Morse said. "We've heard from single-parent students, and they have told us that more affordable housing is essential to their education."